The Big Picture
- Jake Gyllenhaal's portrayal of Billy Hope carries Southpaw with raw emotion and depth, especially in relation to his family dynamics.
- Southpaw expertly delves into themes of grief and guilt, focusing on Billy's redemption arc and how he copes with loss.
- While Billy ultimately wins the final fight, the film's emphasis on self-forgiveness and character growth could have been more impactful without an actual victory.
Boxing movies have recognizable characteristics that are usually integral to their story. They stick to what works best by following a flawed protagonist who has to fight inside and outside the ring to change into the person they need to become, and it always builds up to one final fight that tests whether they have what it takes to accomplish their goal. Rocky will forever be the iconic gold standard for this type of movie and is unlikely to be surpassed. Yet, even though it holds that title, boxing movies have not dried up. Like in the sport, a new champion can come along and shake things up. With this, there have been a number of brilliant boxing movies since Rocky: Raging Bull and Million Dollar Baby are the examples that first come to mind. But the 2015 boxing movie Southpaw squandered its chance to cement itself as an iconic boxing movie.
Southpaw
RDramaActionDocumentaryAfter a fatal incident sends him on a rampant path of destruction, a champion boxer fights to get custody of his daughter and revive his professional career.
Release Date March 24, 2015 Director Antoine Fuqua Cast Jake Gyllenhaal , Rachel McAdams , Forest Whitaker , Oona Laurence , 50 Cent , Skylan Brooks Runtime 123'Southpaw' Shines In Its Depiction of Family
Jake Gyllenhaal's performance as fighter Billy Hope is truly outstanding, and his ability to instantaneously alternate between self-assuredness, insecurity, anger, desperation, and vulnerability essentially carries the film. The protagonist's primary relationships, specifically with his wife, Maureen (Rachel McAdams), and daughter, Leila (Oona Laurence), bring Southpaw to life. Maureen's tragic and accidental death early on in the film is horrifying and emotional. Billy, who has been established as volatile and petulant, ignores the repeated pleas of his level-headed wife to ignore the childish call to action. He is yet to be punished for his reactiveness until he pays the ultimate price, just moments later. The sincerity between Billy and Maureen is enchanting in the opening scenes, and their chemistry and sweet circumstance of having met through a shared orphan experience make her death much more tragic. They care greatly and equally for their daughter, and the audience entirely understands just how good she is for him, even in Maureen's brief appearance. Her lack of presence throughout the rest of the film haunts hope's every dysfunctional step.
'Southpaw' Is an Honest Portrait of Grief
After such a dreadful and saddening occurrence, the focus of the movie shifts to Billy's other core relationship and the only vessel through which Maureen lives on: their daughter. Immediately after her death, Billy doesn't know how to cope with the guilt and has suicidal thoughts. One of the film's most beautifully sad moments occurs in a most simple scene. Billy, who has barely interacted with his daughter since her mother's death, says goodnight to Leila and switches off the light in her room. She immediately corrects him, saying that her mother always left it on. This is enough to demonstrate how Maureen was focused on the more understated moments of her upbringing. Billy turns it back on and apologizes with a cracked voice, unable to look at her, and hurries out of the room to hide his overwhelming tears.
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She calls back to him, but he stays in the hallway to hide his tears. The audience will forever wonder what the poor girl had to say. This seemingly innocuous and minor scene demonstrates the full complexity of their new-found situation so powerfully and painfully. Other moments between Billy and his daughter, including her desire to see him fight and their reunion at the end, could induce tears in even the most stoic people. There was a spellbindingly potent relationship between two exceptional performers that had all the ingredients to make this the most emotionally powerful boxing film to date. Still, it did not ever fully take advantage of what it had.
'Southpaw' Wastes Billy's Redemption Arc
Even with the beautiful moments it has, Southpaw didn't comprehensively explore what will haunt Billy forever. In the final fight scene, he manages to ignore his opponent's remarks about his dead wife, stay calm, not act out, as he did in what ultimately resulted in her accidental death. He wins the fight, but there is still a lingering odor surrounding the whole thing. In a previous scene at the bar, his new trainer, Tick Wills (Forest Whitaker), asks him repeatedly about what he did when his wife died. In this moment, it's clear that Billy will have to come to terms with the fact that he is, as brutal as it is to admit, as responsible as anyone for Maureen's death. However, this moment never comes, and his growth feels incomplete. Billy learns from his mistake, but it is unclear whether he has accepted his role in her death and learned to forgive himself. The film spends considerable time demonstrating how the boxer trains and gets back to healthy habits, digging himself out of a state of delusion, violence, and intoxication, but minutes cleaning a gym aren't as powerful as someone learning to accept the mistakes they've made.
Billy Didn't Need to Win to Be Victorious
There were so many opportunities for quiet moments alone with Billy, where there wouldn't be a need for others to be around for him to develop and pull at the audience's heartstrings in a battle that would have been so much more important than just a fight. He wins for his daughter, but, especially with his reduced training, it would have been more emotionally satisfying for Billy to just go the distance. Even without victory, he could provide for his daughter and learn to forgive his enemy, not striking him no matter how badly he wanted to, so that he could get back to what matters most to him. Proper character growth would have surpassed the superficial rise back to the top.
Southpaw was exceptionally well set up. The movie's core is stronger than most seen. It could have shifted its focus away from the actual boxing to focus on something more important than a belt: a father and his daughter. If the film ha d found a way to slow itself, breathe, and examine the depths it plunges to, it might have become one of the all-time greats. Instead, it feels as if it missed its shot at true glory.
Southpaw is available to rent on Amazon.
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