Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

elijah-36769 This movie is amazing from the action scenes of fighting are intense to the heart tearing scenes of his traumatic losses if you haven't seen this movie go watch it now.

jasontheterrible Fuqua gives us the new stereo-type white male. He is weak, addicted to drugs, and talks like a black person. He can only be restored to strength by strong black males who have far superior survival skills and values. Gyllenhaal is such a great actor but even he cannot act out becoming a black man. Nothing rings true. Fuqua, like many far-left zealots, revel in the decline in white males and want them to be as pictured here. Many have become this stereo-type, which is why it exists, and while so many white males actually enjoyed this, and gave it a high rating. The negative reviews were a more precise description and obviously came from those still opposing this crest. They refuse to wear it and extol its virtues despite the reality it represents.

goreilly40 People have slated this movie because the basic storyline has been done before, boxer is on top, loses everything and hits rock bottom, reinvents himself and gets back on top. Yes the storyline may have been done a few times before, but there's a reason for that and its simple, it makes for a good story and it works, and Southpaw does it very well. Jake Gyllenhaal is nothing short of a revelation as Billy Hope who goes through every human emotion possible as his ideal life is shattered and he has to pick up the pieces. Although her role was very brief Rachel McAdams likewise turned in a brilliant performance as Maureen and as is Oona Laurence as daughter Leila whose world is turned upside down by event not of her own making. Forrest Whittaker as trainer father figure and mentor Tick Wills was superb, and 50 Cents as your stereotypical boxing promoter did the job solidly enough. Miguel Gomez as the antagonist likewise turns in a surprisingly good performance as someone who wants what the protagonist has. The boxing scenes were really well done and were authentic thanks to the use of the HBO announcers and Jimmy Lennon Jr. To summarise Southpaw does have a plot which has been done before but it does it very well and thanks to the acting, the movie is worth watching and owning.

zkonedog Despite the fact that boxing really hasn't been all that relevant for quite some time, boxing movies (or "fight movies" in general) are a favorite of mine. I count the "Rocky" series, "The Champ", "Real Steel", "The Fighter", and "Warrior" to be some of my favorite films of all-time. The reason? Boxing movies really aren't about boxing. They are about revealing character. There may not be a more straightforward sport: hit the other person repeatedly until him or you can't continue. Yet, it is through that ferocious simplicity that great character stories can be told and relationship examined. Sadly, "Southpaw" doesn't do nearly a good enough job with that character/relationship-building, instead just content to throw out all the old boxing clichés and hope they meld into something inspirational. They do not.For a basic plot summary, "Southpaw" tells the story of Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), a light- heavyweight champion at the top of his game. He has beaten all-comers, has a beautiful wife (Rachel McAdams), and a lovely daughter (Oona Laurence). The only problem? Billy can't walk away from any fight (in OR out of the ring) and it leads to a brawl in which a great tragedy befalls him and his family. Starting over basically from square one, Billy finds a new trainer in Tick Wills (Forest Whitaker) and begins to rebuild both his own life and that of his newly-shaped family.Despite my earlier praise for the "fight movie" genre, many of its movies do use rather predictable clichés when dealing with the actual boxing portion of the flicks. In "Southpaw", every single one of those clichés is used in order to try and create a large amount of drama. There is the riches-to-rags-and-back-again story, the grizzled old trainer with the odd methods, the fracturing of the family life due to a violent sport, and the corruption of the entire business. Heck, "Southpaw" even rips off the old "Rocky IV" sequence of having interspersed shots of two boxing training with different styles...this time just set to an Eminem rap tune instead of a score.Unfortunately, all those clichés do is cover up for the fact that the characters in this movie are not well-written or well-conceived whatsoever, and the plot adds absolutely nothing new to the genre. It is completely hollow once you look past the surface material. Sadder still, there really isn't even anything that I can point to as being really good about the film, besides perhaps the acting of Gyllenhaal (which itself is even "just okay" as there is no dramatic meat for him to work with). To be honest, a more accurate rating of this film for me would be 1.5 stars. I'll round it up to two stars because it at least as some coherency to it, but that is truly the only reason. Nothing else made me care about what I was seeing.I was very disappointed in "Southpaw", as (when I first saw its trailers a few months ago) I predicted it would be perhaps the best movie I've seen all year. Boy, was that ever a "punch to the gut" (pardon the pun). Instead, it ended up as one of the most bland, hollow movies I've seen in quite sometime. Unless you've never seen a fight movie in your life and want to catch up on the mechanics of how they work, "Southpaw" will likely underwhelm you to the point of boredom. It just doesn't have any dramatic substance.