Southpaw

JP Liz V1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBG1AJU7kMk

Jake Gyllenhaal's should be an awards contender given his transformation for this role

tupac_healy

Yeah, trailer for this looks good, one to keep an eye out for

Heckler

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBG1AJU7kMk

Jake Gyllenhaal's should be an awards contender given his transformation for this role

Big fan of Gyllenhaals and looks to be good but I don't get this awards for transformation. If any of us got paid millions to do nothing but work out 6 days a week for seven months with a personal trainer we could all do it. The rest is acting i.e. their job. Kidman throws on a false nose and suddenly its a masterclass in acting. Bale starves himself and De Niro pigs out. Big deal.

JP Liz V1

Heckler wrote: »

Big fan of Gyllenhaals and looks to be good but I don't get this awards for transformation. If any of us got paid millions to do nothing but work out 6 days a week for seven months with a personal trainer we could all do it. The rest is acting i.e. their job. Kidman throws on a false nose and suddenly its a masterclass in acting. Bale starves himself and De Niro pigs out. Big deal.

Academy especially loves physical transformations

tupac_healy

Heckler wrote:

Big fan of Gyllenhaals and looks to be good but I don't get this awards for transformation. If any of us got paid millions to do nothing but work out 6 days a week for seven months with a personal trainer we could all do it. The rest is acting i.e. their job. Kidman throws on a false nose and suddenly its a masterclass in acting. Bale starves himself and De Niro pigs out. Big deal.

Your leaving out an important aspect though...


These actors, Bale, Affleck, Gyllenhaal etc.... It's not like they are short of a few bob already! They could take one look at the role and just say no... They could say I'll pass on this one and take the next 'handy' one that comes up...

If anything, showing this sort of application & dedication are to be commended IMO. Not to take away from your original point which is valid, talent overall should dictate but it's the ones that make the decision to stand out from the rest that grab everyone's attention, and IMO rightly so...

Heckler

I get your point. I guess its the raving and especially the award nods that are expected. Especially when its a good looking actor doing something to make themselves less attractive.

"oh how brave" and so on.......

Heckler

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Academy especially loves physical transformations

Agreed. But I don't think its warranted in the main.

JohnFalstaff

Thought this was going to be a thread about the Francie Barrett film!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190027/

Nom De Guerre

Saw this yesterday and was utterly underwhelmed.

Gyllenhaal and Whittaker are solid enough but I spent the entire movie waiting for it to begin and by the time it did, it was over.

Didn't help that the trailer gave away a key plot incident

NachoBusiness

Was looking forward to this for many months and in the end I didn't like it very much at all.

The first 20 minutes of dialogue are awful and the acting not far off it either. It feels as if you're watching the dailies rather than something that made the can. Very jarring stuff but it picks up a little after that. Whitaker's character was very annoying as he initially seemed like a man of principles but in the end he had none, or at least none which he adhered to. His lines were quite original and interesting in parts but in the main they very cliched it has to be said. Yet another attempt at out Mickey'ing, Mickey.

The fight scenes were very very boring and:

The final punch thrown is as laughable as when the Dukes of Hazzard car used to leap up into the air a few feet right before it jumped over a gap in yet another bridge, as his opponent inexplicably just leaves himself wide open for a free shot, out of the blue. No effort whatsoever at creating a situation that would result in that opening occurring.

There was also inadequate attempts at creating an atmosphere regarding the "big fight".

They could have clips of reporters asking the opponent how he feels about the lead's wife dying and also asking Jake's character if it was revenge fight for him. I mean, at least try and build this thing up.

50 Cent's character also seems to go from a decent, loyal man to a piece of crap for little or no reason who was suddenly more worried about his stuff being damaged than his fighter who had just lost his wife.

Many of the character's behaved in ways which appeared to be inconsistent with who they were in other parts of the film and had little to do with character arc. Just seemed like useless writing and easy outs to me.

Very annoying film overall mainly because the writing was dull, the fights stale and uninteresting and the plot felt like an afterthought, or at least not something of a major priority to the filmmakers, as Jake's six pack clearly appeared to be, and who incidentally had a body you would more associate with a member of a boy band than any boxer I've ever seen, but maybe's that's nitpicking (the film deserves it though, it's that irritating).

Easily the best thing about the film was the performance of Oona Laurence as the lead character's daughter.

TCDStudent1

NachoBusiness wrote: »

Was looking forward to this for many months and in the end I didn't like it very much at all.

The first 20 minutes of dialogue are awful and the acting not far off it either. It feels as if you're watching the dailies rather than something that made the can. Very jarring stuff but it picks up a little after that. Whitaker's character was very annoying as he initially seemed like a man of principles but in the end he had none, or at least none which he adhered to. His lines were quite original and interesting in parts but in the main they very cliched it has to be said. Yet another attempt at out Mickey'ing, Mickey.

The fight scenes were very very boring and:

The final punch thrown is as laughable as when the Dukes of Hazzard car used to leap up into the air a few feet right before it jumped off a hole in yet another bridge, as his opponent inexplicably just leaves himself wide open for a free shot, out of the blue. No effort whatsoever at creating a situation that would result in that opening occurring.

The was also inadequate attempts at creating an atmosphere regarding the "big fight".

They could have clips of reporters asking the opponent how he feels about the lead's wife dying and also asking Jake's character if it was revenge fight for him. I mean, at least try and build this thing up.

50 Cent's character also seems to go from a decent, loyal man to a piece of crap for little or no reason who was suddenly more worried about his stuff being damaged than his fighter who had just lost his wife.

Many of the character's behaved in ways which appeared to be inconsistent with who they were in other parts of the film and had little to do with character arc. Just seemed like useless writing and easy outs to me.

Very annoying film overall mainly because the writing was dull, the fights stale and uninteresting and the plot felt like an afterthought, or at least not something of a major priority to the filmmakers, as Jake's six pack clearly appeared to be, and who incidentally had a body you would more associate with a member of a boy band than any boxer I've ever seen, but maybe's that's nitpicking (the film deserves it though, it's that irritating).

Easily the best thing about the film was the performance of Oona Laurence as the lead character's daughter.

I felt the same. The big fight seem to arrive far too soon without any proper build up. Surely, there was potential to script something for a weigh in for example. It was all a little convenient how he was suddenly able to fight again. I actually think the film could have benefitted from being 20 minutes longer with a better build up to the fight.

Gwynplaine

Saw this today. Very predictable. Could have been a lot better with a bit of effort in the script.


6/10

Looper007

I enjoyed it, it wasn't as great as I thought it be but its worth a watch. No way in hell in this film winning Jake Gyllenhaal an Oscar, don't get me wrong he's very good in this but it's nowhere in the same ball park as his performances in Nightcrawler End of watch or Prisoners. Yeah its clichéd as hell but its not the worst of the boxing films. I thought Oona Laurence as the daughter and Forest Whitaker were every bit as good as Gyllenhaal.

Did anyone feel a lot of stuff was cut from the film, like Naomie Harris, it felt like most of her stuff was left on the cutting room floor (I think she was supposed to be the new love interest in the film, also wasn't this supposed to be Lupita Nyong'o next role after 12 years a slave) and I felt there wasn't much of a conclusion with 50 cent's dodgy agent

Cliched or not I was expecting Gyllenhaal to lay the beat down on him

. Also the

The stuff with the kid in the training gym felt cut down as well, a simple throw away line about him been shot by his father protecting his mother.

.

Not a classic, I give it a 6/10.

wp_rathead

Like others said, not as good as I hoped but an enjoyable film regardless

Thought he would lose final fight as 50 Cent meant be notorious for bribing officials, would have made more sense imo.

TCDStudent1

A couple of things that I thought needed a bit more fleshing out, but maybe I missed them:

Why did Forest Whittaker's character not train pro fighters? Was there a reason behind this?

Why did Billy Hope want Forest Whittaker to be his trainer? Was it simply because he trained a guy that Hope felt beat him in the ring?

TCDStudent1

Looper007 wrote: »

I enjoyed it, it wasn't as great as I thought it be but its worth a watch. No way in hell in this film winning Jake Gyllenhaal an Oscar, don't get me wrong he's very good in this but it's nowhere in the same ball park as his performances in Nightcrawler End of watch or Prisoners. Yeah its clichéd as hell but its not the worst of the boxing films. I thought Oona Laurence as the daughter and Forest Whitaker were every bit as good as Gyllenhaal.

Did anyone feel a lot of stuff was cut from the film, like Naomie Harris, it felt like most of her stuff was left on the cutting room floor (I think she was supposed to be the new love interest in the film, also wasn't this supposed to be Lupita Nyong'o next role after 12 years a slave) and I felt there wasn't much of a conclusion with 50 cent's dodgy agent

Cliched or not I was expecting Gyllenhaal to lay the beat down on him

. Also the

The stuff with the kid in the training gym felt cut down as well, a simple throw away line about him been shot by his father protecting his mother.

.

Not a classic, I give it a 6/10.

Definitely got the sense there was a lot cut out alright.

The social worker looked like a love interest when watching the fight, but we saw very few interactions between them on screen.

Looper007

wp_rathead wrote: »

Like others said, not as good as I hoped but an enjoyable film regardless

Thought he would lose final fight as 50 Cent meant be notorious for bribing officials, would have made more sense imo.

It would have made better sense seen as he won the battle he needed to win

by getting his daughters love and trust back

but this is Hollywood so he had to

Win at the end, which I think everyone going in knew he was going to win seen as they made his rival a cockney scumbag

.

Drumpot

Was going to see it but based on this thread will wait until DVD.

I was actually disgusted when the trailer showed a major plot that I presume leads to his downfall so he can learn a lesson, recover and win again!.

I remember coming out of "Warrior" in 2011 and was simply gobsmacked. I went into it not even knowing what actors were in it (let alone seeing a trailer) and have seldom been as entertained in the cinema. Why cant a trailer not give most of the story away ?! Is it really that hard ?

Looper007

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

Definitely got the sense there was a lot cut out alright.

The social worker looked like a love interest when watching the fight, but we saw very few interactions between them on screen.

I think since the finished film was over 2 hours, they had to cut stuff down and I think their first choice for that role Lupita Nyong'o, who was coming off her Oscar win dropped out. They pretty much did way with the character and poor Naomie Harris is left with a role any day actor could have done. I do get the feeling

Harris was a love interest especially as you said with the scene when she's watching the fight

.

El Diablo Blanco

Saw this over the weekend. Opinion's pretty much on a par with the rest of the thread- a weak script elevated by very good performances. A lot of the drama and emotion felt overwrought; saying that, though, I thought the scene of Hope putting his daughter to bed just after

Mo's death

, and desperately trying to keep it together, was superb - great work from Gyllenhaal and Oona Laurence. Enjoyed Naomie Harris, as well, in her unfortunately small role. Could've and should've been better, but not for a lack of effort on the part of the cast.

NachoBusiness

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

Why did Billy Hope want Forest Whittaker to be his trainer? Was it simply because he trained a guy that Hope felt beat him in the ring?

Apparently.

Also..

Did anyone else think it was weird the way Jake refused to clean the toilets, used bad language and walked out, yet this didn't see to get resolved? I never seen him apologize or start scrubbing toilets for example.

Drumpot wrote: »

Why cant a trailer not give most of the story away ?! Is it really that hard ?

Don't know but would make a great discussion for a thread

TCDStudent1

NachoBusiness wrote: »

Apparently.

Also..

Did anyone else think it was weird the way Jake refused to clean the toilets, used bad language and walked out, yet this didn't see to get resolved? I never seen him apologize or start scrubbing toilets for example.

We saw him mopping the floor. Dont think there was any need to actually show him cleaning toilets. We could assume that was part of his duties. I didnt think this part came across as not being resolved. He realised in the interview with the social worker that he needed a job, so he went back and took it. You could argue that Forest Whittaker took him back a little too easily I guess.

Rhys Essien

This film is utter garbage.

candy-gal1

Saw this this evening, I actually did really enjoy it, quite tense in parts and even a few laughs, very nice story too I thought!
As was said here already, would have been so much better if the trailer didnt show the major plot point, but still I liked it, 8/10

Essien

Saw this tonight, didn't like it at all. One interesting thing happens in the entire film and I saw it in the trailer.

That script could have been written over lunch, very poor stuff.

johnny_ultimate

A character in Southpaw at one point asks, "what kind of **** is this?" It's a good question with an easy answer: this is the clichéd, unintentionally funny, unimaginative, insipid, trite, overwrought, unconvincing, obvious, contrived, cynical, manipulative kind of ****.

It baffles me that numerous people with genuine talent committed significant amounts of time and energy to this near worthless nonsense. It's not content with throwing in every boxing movie cliché there has ever been - it instead delivers them without any flair or creativity, and borrows clichés and tropes from a whole range of other genres for good measure That all of the themes and characterisation were so aggressively hypocritical and illogical is almost a minor point when everything - from the soundtrack (which seems to exist to sell iTunes singles more than anything else) to the casting - is so completely misjudged.

In conclusion: I did not like this movie.

LuckyLloyd

I tend to agree though I thought Gyllenhaal did his best with what was on offer and the fight scenes were well handled.

Saw the trailer a few months back and felt like I'd seen the entire film, it looks like a grittier Rocky Balboa only without the heart and warmth that made that film such a success. I think that most of the talk has been centered around Gyllenhaal's psychical transformation which says it all really.

Loughc

I really enjoyed this remake of Rocky III.

junglyparty

I'm glad I didn't see that trailer! It really gives away the entire film.

It tried so, so hard to tug on as many heart strings as possible. What else could possibly go wrong for this guy? I thought Jake Gyllenhaal did a fantastic job. I didn't think it was as bad as everyone is making it out to be, but everyone is making solid points.

24 Hours From Tulsa

awful movie

TerrorFirmer

Fantastic movie. Watched this and 'Creed' back to back and couldn't fault it. Solid entertainment and the tension was next level. Glyenhall was absolutely incredible. It's not as gritty as I expected, overall, it actually was almost like re-watching Creed, but can't fault the film for that.