By Krista Madden
This is one of the best boxing films since Raging Bull, Jake Gyllenhaal pulls off a performance that Robert De Niro would have been proud of. He filmed all the fight scenes himself, as well as looking like a mean machine he also plays a sensitive broken man and just acts his socks off. I loved this film, could watch it many times and can’t recommend it enough. It’s bloody and gritty but a great film. It’s out the same day as the brilliant Pixar movie Inside Out so you can go cleanse yourself with that afterwards. Two great films out this week, try to see both of them!
From acclaimed director Antoine Fuqua (TRAINING DAY) and screenwriters Kurt Sutter (SONS OF ANARCHY) and Richard Wenk (THE MECHANIC), SOUTHPAW tells the riveting story of Billy “The Great” Hope, reigning Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World (Academy Award® nominee Jake Gyllenhaal).
Billy Hope seemingly has it all with an impressive career, a beautiful and loving wife (Rachel McAdams), an adorable daughter (Oona Laurence) and a lavish lifestyle. When tragedy strikes and his lifelong manager and friend (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson) leaves him behind, Hope hits rock bottom and turns to an unlikely saviour at a run-down local gym: Tick Willis (Academy Award® winner Forest Whitaker), a retired fighter and trainer to the city’s toughest amateur boxers. With his future riding on Tick’s guidance and tenacity, Billy enters the hardest battle of his life as he struggles with redemption and to win back the trust of those he loves.
Watch the trailer below
SOUTHPAW will be released across the UK and Ireland by Entertainment Film Distributors on 24 July 2015
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