Left is
Right
Film:
Southpaw
Cast: Jake
Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Forest Whitaker, Oona Laurence
Directed by:
Antoine Fuqua
Duration: 2
hrs 4 mins
Rating: * *
* 1 / 2
Southpaw can be
described as a formula film but it is a story that is very well told. Films
involving sports follow a certain arc and this one is no different. We have
seen a similar plot in the likes of Cinderella
Man and since the days of Rocky and
Raging Bull (and before that Champion and Requiem for a Heavyweight) the bar for films with boxing as the
backdrop has been set high.
Due credit to director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Olympus Has Fallen and the forthcoming remake of The Magnificent Seven) for keeping
things tight and simple. And he also has Jake Gyllenhaal who has moved into the
top orbit with films like End of watch,
Prisoners and Night crawler. If he keeps going in the same mould, he could
well end up as one of the best actors of this generation.
In Southpaw, he
plays boxer Billy Hope – age is not on his side but he still packs a punch. He
has everything that one can hope for – money, fame and beautiful and caring
wife (Rachel McAdams) and an adoring daughter (Oona Laurence, giving one of the
best performances by a child actress in recent times). Bruised and battered
after a fight even though he wins the title, his wife wants him to call it
quits. But he goes by his instincts and doesn’t have the inclination to plan
his career. That’s when tragedy strikes
and loses everything he has got – professionally and personally.
Forest Whitaker plays Tick Wills a boxing coach who helps him
pick up the pieces and even though you exactly how that angle is going to pan
out, Fuqua keeps you interested in the proceedings.
The film
balances the quotient of sports and human emotions quite well, it kicks off
with a fight at Madison square garden and finishes with a crucial fight at
Caesars Palace in Vegas. In between comes the human element as Billy loses
custody of his daughter. The admirable part is that the screenplay though
simple, manages to tug your heart strings with the father-daughter
relationship. There was one particular
scene which was remarkably shot – the little girl in child care custody refuses
to see her father. The camera is placed at a very low level at first and then
when it cuts to the next shot, it is from a distance at the height of the ceiling.
The average
script rises above the ordinary because one, the direction and two the acting.
You care about Billy Hope because of the conviction with which Gyllenhaal
essays the role. Whether it is the physical looks of a boxer or emoting
desperation about his daughter, he is brilliant. Rachel McAdams plays her part with conviction
while Forest Whitaker is reliable as always. The little Oona Laurence matches
the older actors in every scene and she has it in her to go the distance.
In all
likely hood you will hear more about the film when the awards season starts
because this is an above average product from the Hollywood factory.
Published in The Navhind Times on 2nd Aug 2015
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