SOUTHPAW (2015) – My rating 8.7

What I loved most about Southpaw was the absence of all the bells and whistles.  It was straight story telling at it’s best.  No extraneous, over-the-top scrap to glamorize the movie — they just worked hard to keep it real.  Performances by Jake Gyllenhaal who played Billy Hope and Rachel McAdams who played his wife Maureen Hope were brilliant.
A couple who came up through the system hit it big when as a professional boxer, Billy became the light heavyweight champion of the world, 43 wins vs 0 losses.  Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson plays Billy’s manager, Jordan Mains, who was into everything from fixing fights to getting $30M HBO deals.  All seemed well until tragedy hit and Billy lost everything, including his daughter to Child Protective Services.  Southpaw is about Billy’s journey back with the help of Forest Whitaker who plays Titus “Tick” Wills, owner of a gym where Billy decides to retrain and change his life around.  Southpaw is emotion packed, down to earth and well acted.  Eminem was originally targeted for the lead role of Billy Hope but decided to focus on his music so the role went to Jake Gyllenhaal.  Well done on all levels.  Check it out!

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