A champion boxer fights to get his daughter back from child protective services as well as revive his professional career, after a fatal incident sends him on a rampant path of destruction.
When Louis Bloom, a con man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story.
A successful investment banker struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. With the help of a customer service rep and her young son, he starts to rebuild, beginning with the demolition of the life he once knew.
When Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.
The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.
Director:
Ryan Coogler
Stars:
Michael B. Jordan,
Sylvester Stallone,
Tessa Thompson
Based on the story of Micky Ward, a fledgling boxer who tries to escape the shadow of his more famous but troubled older boxing brother and get his own shot at greatness.
The story of New Zealand's Robert "Rob" Edwin Hall, who on May 10, 1996, together with Scott Fischer, teamed up on a joint expedition to ascend Mount Everest.
Director:
Baltasar Kormákur
Stars:
Jason Clarke,
Ang Phula Sherpa,
Thomas M. Wright
Stronger is the inspiring real life story of Jeff Bauman, an ordinary man who captured the hearts of his city and the world to become a symbol of hope after surviving the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
Director:
David Gordon Green
Stars:
Jake Gyllenhaal,
Tatiana Maslany,
Miranda Richardson
A team of scientists aboard the International Space Station discover a rapidly evolving life form that caused extinction on Mars and now threatens all life on Earth.
Director:
Daniel Espinosa
Stars:
Jake Gyllenhaal,
Rebecca Ferguson,
Ryan Reynolds
As tragedy strikes him in his prime, famed boxer, Billy Hope, begins to fall into a great depression. Once the decision regarding the custody of his daughter is under question, Billy decides to get his life back on track by getting back into the ring.
The song that plays at the end of this film, "Wise Man" by Frank Ocean, was originally written to be in Django Unchained (2012). Quentin Tarantino wasn't able to find a scene to place the song in, so it was eventually scrapped from the final cut. See more »
Goofs
In the Hospital scene after Billy's crash, He says "Rach" several times. Obviously referring to Rachel McAdams and not her character "Maureen". See more »
Quotes
Tick Wills:
These kids coming up in here I'm telling them a bunch of stuff this bullshit. "It's gonna be alright". You can control your destiny. You could control this you could control that". You can't control shit.
See more »
Jake Gyllenhaal gives his fans his best work since Brokeback Mountain as light heavyweight champion Billy Hope who suffers a horrific personal tragedy beyond any I've ever seen in a boxing film and comes back from it. For what he goes through Sylvester Stallone had it easy. As Brokeback Mountain got him an Oscar nomination maybe Southpaw will do the same.
Billy Hope is a kid raised in an orphanage as a foundling as is his loving and supportive wife Rachel McAdams. They have a daughter played by Oona Laurence who is their whole world. When McAdams is killed in an unspeakable tragedy, Gyllenhaal's world falls apart and he has to make one long comeback.
As a kid who was raised by the social welfare system it's the system that decides what he must do to gain back his child. Gyllenhaal is wonderful as a man who successfully conquers the badder angels of his nature to gain it all back, title, child, and self respect.
McAdams should be singled out for a moving death scene ranking up there with some of the screen's best. Also Forest Whitaker who trains the ex-champ for his comeback should also be singled out.
Watching Gyllenhaal as Billy Hope put me in mind of heavyweight contender Hurricane Jackson when I was a kid. There's no science in Hope's style, he just wades in and brawls. Hope will take two or three punches to get in his shot. As McAdams points out he'll be punch drunk within a few years. Whitaker puts a little science in his boxing persona. Hurricane Jackson was very much like Billy Hope and did in fact end up punch drunk.
This is a fine boxing film and Oscar nominations could come for Gyllenhaal and McAdams.
16 of 23 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Jake Gyllenhaal gives his fans his best work since Brokeback Mountain as light heavyweight champion Billy Hope who suffers a horrific personal tragedy beyond any I've ever seen in a boxing film and comes back from it. For what he goes through Sylvester Stallone had it easy. As Brokeback Mountain got him an Oscar nomination maybe Southpaw will do the same.
Billy Hope is a kid raised in an orphanage as a foundling as is his loving and supportive wife Rachel McAdams. They have a daughter played by Oona Laurence who is their whole world. When McAdams is killed in an unspeakable tragedy, Gyllenhaal's world falls apart and he has to make one long comeback.
As a kid who was raised by the social welfare system it's the system that decides what he must do to gain back his child. Gyllenhaal is wonderful as a man who successfully conquers the badder angels of his nature to gain it all back, title, child, and self respect.
McAdams should be singled out for a moving death scene ranking up there with some of the screen's best. Also Forest Whitaker who trains the ex-champ for his comeback should also be singled out.
Watching Gyllenhaal as Billy Hope put me in mind of heavyweight contender Hurricane Jackson when I was a kid. There's no science in Hope's style, he just wades in and brawls. Hope will take two or three punches to get in his shot. As McAdams points out he'll be punch drunk within a few years. Whitaker puts a little science in his boxing persona. Hurricane Jackson was very much like Billy Hope and did in fact end up punch drunk.
This is a fine boxing film and Oscar nominations could come for Gyllenhaal and McAdams.