Film Review - Southpaw

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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Film Review - Taken 3

Taken Aback

Film: Taken 3

Cast: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace

Directed by: Olivier Megatron

Duration: 1 hr 51 mins

Rating:  *  * 

Much like many other Hollywood franchises, Taken is the type where if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Luckily, there are only 3 in this franchise and supposedly this is going to be the end, or so the tag line says. 

The first installment back in 2008 was quite entertaining but Taken 2 (2013) was no great shakes and this one sits at the bottom of it all. 

Liam Neeson plays Bryan Mills an ex-secret agent who doesn’t look like one but he still is a one man army. There are no kidnappings this time but it’s his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) who is murdered and the blame is pinned on Mills who manages to escape from the authorities and wants to prove his innocence. As usual, a cop (Forest Whitaker) is in hot pursuit and there is the Russian mafia angle to the story. Maggie Grace plays Mills daughter and he is hell-bent on protecting her no matter what.

The whole film runs on autopilot mode. Co-written by Luc Besson, it operates in the been-there- done-that mode.  More often than not, in such films, there are some action sequences that give you some of your money’s worth but there is nothing that stands out in Taken 3. In fact the fast cutting during the action scenes is more like a Michael Bay film. 

Liam Neeson is eminently likable in whatever he does and being a top actor that he is, he even pulls off an action film like this. But otherwise Taken 3 has very little going in its favor. In a way am glad that  “It ends here” 

Published in The Navhind Times on 11th January 2015
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