WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Floated2 Southpaw is a boxing drama lead by Jake Gyllenhaal as this was a film in which he needed for his career. It did decent at the box office and receive mixed to good reviews. The film is highly engaging and entertaining throughout and the main reason is the acting and performance of Gylleenhall, as we can see the emotions and pain he committed for this film. Although somewhat generic and filled with cliches in which we have seen in previous sports dramas, Southpaw still delivers on what it was meant to, as in an interesting and fully rich story. With these type of films, the criticism may be because they are predictable, and although true, the joy is watching the story unfold and see the performances. In short, Southpaw is a rare boxing film with heart, emotion and one which keeps entertained throughout.

Neddy Merrill In this corner the champ "Rocky III". In this corner, the inadvertent remake "Southpaw". Gentlemen, keep the blows low and the fight dirty. BEGIN!Round 1: Main character name. The champ comes out swinging with the titular title character "Rocky" invoking a time, place and ethnicity. The laughably bland main character name in "South" - Billy "The Great" Hope - sounds the writers were trying to come up with some intriguing name but eventually principal filming needed to start and they couldn't answer the question "The Great" what? Did they mean he is the Great Hope? But not the Great White Hope with it implicit kinda racist overtones? Anyway, few real boxer nicknames and no movie boxer nicknames can stand again the memorability of the "Italian Stallion". And the challenger is down and the fight end early!Round 2: the kid: The challenger avoids the early knockout with Oona (that's a name?) Laurence's portrayal of Billy the Goat...er Great's daughter who is traumatized by the shooting death of her mother and Billy's incompetent parenting. While Laurence winds up just shouting at the televised climatic fight much like Ian Fried's Rocky, Jr. does, at least she has a character arc and some dramatic moment. Looks like the fight is on.Round 3: the death that pushes the champion into a downward spiral: and we got ourselves a battle! We had 2 fully "Rocky" movies to come to know Burgess Meredith's Mickey Goldmill so his heart attack before the first Clubber Lang fight is affecting. However, given how much Billy and Leila rely on Maureen to parent them both, her shooting by Miguel Escobar's squad equals the pathos of Mickey's death.Round 4: the baddie: Oh, and the champion comes back hard! The monster of 80's cheese Mr. T. somehow projects both a menacing and ludicrous screen presence. He plays the hungry, scrappy underdog that Rocky was before his Ferrari and house robot made him soft. Miguel "Magic" Escobar amounts to little more than off-the-shelf disrespectful thug with little to distinguish him from his crew.Round 5: the savior trainer: But the challenger isn't done yet! The excellent Forest Whitaker plays the also unfortunately named Tick Willis (seriously, who came up with these character names?) He is kind to street kids and who takes on Billy when he is at his lowest point despite Billy treating him like crap and he is some kind of boxing training savant (his expertise is never explained). While the round goes to "Southpaw", Carl Weathers Apollo Creed (see, that's a great character name) is a mostly one note Rocky support system for Rocky but his physical attractiveness and easy smile makes his a highly engaging actor to watch on film.Round 6: the big fight: And the challenger is against the ropes! The eventual Escobar Vs. Hope or "Magic" Vs. "The Great" battle excels at verisimilitude and therefore not so much at drama. An open Hollywood secret director Antoine Fuqua missed in film school is that while audiences complain about the lack of realism in movie boxing matches, they actually want them to include dozens of uncontested punches per round. Balboa Vs. Lang includes enough haymakers to give both men CTE before the ring girl strutted around the ring with the "4" card. When Jim Lampley's monolouging during the climatic Miguel / Hope showdown is the most interesting part of the proceedings, your fight staging is a little too accurate.And the challenger is out! There won't be no rematch or a "Southpaw" sequel for that matter. The plodding, overly serious, staging of a story that's been done better multiple times before unfortunately wastes Gyllenhaal's impressive physical transformation. In short, "Rocky!", "Rocky!", Rocky!"

Rohit_murari Pretty much a decent boxing flick, with good performances from all three lead actors.If you're a boxing fan you are in for a treat as the boxing scenes were exceptionally good.Gets a bit predictable and boring in the middle but somehow still maintains a pretty strong story line.Definitely watch if you are a sports fan and for those who aren't, they may still enjoy it.RECOMMENDATION PERCENTAGE: 63%

Ian (Flash Review)It wouldn't be a boxing movie if there wasn't a comeback. So no surprise there. Billy Hope is an immature and brash man with a wife, son and a strong left hook. He's rolling in dough, material possessions and fame. Suddenly, a surprising tragedy strikes and his life as he knows it is altered forever. The tragedy caught me off guard as if I was the one taking one to the jaw. Will Billy be able to claw his was back to his level of fame or will he be KO'd (couldn't resist) by the weight of the tragedy? Will he learn to be humble to learn what matters most in life? The story is told with strong emotions and dramatic scenes. The rise is rather predictable but felt fresh. Strong acting and quality cinematography help make this above average for the boxing genre.