Southpaw 4K 2015

Kurt Sutter's sports drama, directed by Antoine Fuqua, tells the story of a boxer who, at the peak of his career, suddenly loses everything he holds dear, everything he has fought for. The narrative follows the tried-and-true formula of fall and rise, obstacles on the path to victory, echoing the journey of Rocky Balboa. The hero has a strong opponent, a wise coach played by Forest Whitaker, and a lyrical interest—his own daughter, whose lost trust he has yet to earn. But despite these conventions, the film stands apart, immersing the viewer in the inner world of the hero, and Jake Gyllenhaal has done an excellent job of this.
In fact, the film is not about sport, but about human relationships, redemption, and the struggle with oneself. And the most important part of the film is the actor Jake Gyllenhaal. It is his reverent attitude to the details of the film image, his transformation, that helps the viewer live his life; it is he who is the conduit to the high point of emotional tension. This is a serious and sincere drama about the relationship between a father and daughter.

The film has its flaws. Sometimes the director neglects the secondary characters and seems to forget about their existence or exaggerates the drama for the sake of explanation, ignoring the context of the main idea: the love story between the protagonist and his wife does not convey deep affection; his depressive suicidal reaction is slightly exaggerated; the dynamics of the daughter's critical attitude towards her father are not clear, but only inform the viewer; the antihero is given little attention both on screen and in the content; the director raises the theme of adolescent upbringing and child abuse, but does not explore it - all this may be a consequence of a limited budget and schedule, but these same problems are also present, to one degree or another, in other films by Antoine Fuqua, with rare exceptions.