Rating summary
Movie | | 5.0 |
Video | | 4.5 |
Audio | | 5.0 |
Extras | | 2.5 |
Overall | | 4.5 |
Southpaw Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 2, 2015
The more you get hit, the harder you fight.
Boxing may not hold the prestige it once did, particularly amongst more casual sports fans, but it's still a canvas on which cinema can thrive. Director
Antoine Fuqua's (Training Day) latest picture is the best boxing-themed movie since Rocky, and much like it is in Sylvester Stallone's Oscar-winning
masterpiece, the sport is more a plot device than it is a central focus. Fuqua's rich, raw, and powerful story is a human interest tale, one that
looks into the deepest depth of the soul where pain hits harder, lasts longer, and wounds more deeply than any opponent's blow.
Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) has moved beyond the constraints of his troubled Hell's Kitchen roots to become a champion boxer with an undefeated
record. He's married to Maureen (Rachel McAdams), another product of the Kitchen's orphanage system, and they have a young daughter named
Leila (Oona Laurence). Maureen is becoming ever more concerned for her husband's future. They've already got it made, living a life of
unparalleled luxury, and she fears that fighting will eventually take an irreversible toll not only on his body, but on his spirit. Billy finds himself
dogged by an up-and-coming fighter named Miguel Escobar (Miguel Gomez) who wants his shot against the champ. An impromptu confrontation
between them leads to tragedy that drives Billy to a dark place from which he may not be able to recover and what remains of his shattered
personal life in question. His only hope for salvation is a return to the ring and training under the tutelage of a man named Tick Wills
(Forest Whitaker), training that will prepare him for more than just the fight to come.
Much like fighters dig deep to find the will to withstand punishment, the stamina to remain upright in the ring, and the strength to achieve victory,
Southpaw digs deep to find an intensely raw and very powerful emotional center that drains the audience just as it drains the character.
But
it's the sort of sobering, heart-wrenching journey that, when done well -- smartly, believably, purposefully -- makes cinema such a fantastic and
effective storytelling medium. Antoine Fuqua and Writer
Kurt Sutter (
Sons of Anarchy) tell an essential human interest story in
Southpaw, one that's deeply powerful and long resonating. The story isn't complicated but the underlying themes are as it explores
humanity at its most vulnerable, at a point when the body is wounded but, more, the heart is broken, the soul is shattered, the spirit is wilted, and
the stamina to continue on has all but evaporated. Few films so honestly, intimately, and darkly get to the center of human emotions quite so well
as
this. It uses boxing as a metaphor, and a rather simple one at that, but whatever takes place in the ring and its surroundings are simply
facilitators for a greater story of the classic fall from grace and the will to will to return to the top, not for the glory of man but in the need of the
spirit
to rediscover a purpose for continuing on, for defeating the most challenging opponent every person will ever face: life.
With that in mind, the movie isn't all that original. It's rather predictable, but Fuqua has crafted the film not so much to puzzle audiences or keep
them guessing but instead experience a tidal wave of emotions, the sort of ebbs and flows that see humanity at its highest pinnacle and lowest
depth. The film isn't about broad story details -- who will win this fight or that or how Billy trains -- but instead the emotional journey, a journey
that's written through those core story details but that's made by the powerful performances that give it a tangible life across those peaks and
valleys. Jake Gyllenhaal is absolutely spectacular as the film's lead. His Oscar-worthy performance finds not just a depth to the character but a
tangible, believable intimacy through which the audience comes to not simply see his pains but experience them, to not simply appreciate his plight
but get down into the depths of a ravaged, exposed soul to a nitty-gritty, heartbreaking level few films have found before.
Southpaw will
leave its audience emotionally devastated through its middle stretch but hopeful as the character begins a recovery that's not about getting in
fighting shape or participating in a difficult match with a particular opponent but instead battling back against the pains and crawling out of the
hole. Gyllenhaal's ability to carry the audience on his back and share such a personal journey so openly makes the film a staggering success not
so much of raw entertainment but instead precision filmmaking and inspired storytelling that explores a tangibly realistic journey through life's
deepest wounds and what it takes, and what it means, to recover from them.
Southpaw Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
Southpaw's 1080p transfer is a dominant force in the Blu-ray ring. Though noise occasionally lingers or spikes, Anchor Bay's transfer otherwise
leaves little room for criticism. Colors are crisp and vibrant, particularly in the boxing ring where the canvas, multicolored ropes and posts, and fighter
trunks are brilliant under arena lights. A poolside scene dazzles with brilliant blue water. The image is otherwise a little on the gray-blue end of the
scale, offering a mildly cold appearance in other locales, like the courtroom or Willis' gym. Details are sharp and precise. Skin tones reveal the finest
intimate textures, including pores and stubble. Accumulated blood and sweat take on a realistic appearance. Trunks, tattoos, clothing lines and
seams, and other support details look great. Black levels are inky deep with only a couple of scenes pushing slightly bright. Flesh tones satisfy under
the film's lighting.
Southpaw Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
Southpaw features a robust and endlessly impressive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Musical definition is excellent, whether
deep and lightly airy score or hard-hitting and bass-heavy popular beats. Instrumental and lyrical definition are terrific and aggressive. Spacing is
natural and surround use is enveloping and effortlessly so. Crowd din at the boxing matches is fully immersive and blurs the line between real and
recreated sound. In and around the ring, punches land hard, falls to the mat are met with a lifelike thud, and the bell is piercing and precise. City din
fills various exteriors and, outside the ring, proves the most complex supportive effect in the film. Dialogue is very well defined,
enjoying consistent center balance, prioritization, and nice reverberation throughout a couple of different locales.
Southpaw Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
Southpaw contains deleted scenes and three featurettes. A DVD copy of the film and a UV digital copy voucher are included with purchase.
- Deleted Scenes (1080p): Breakfast (0:55), Getting Ready Extended (3:54), Billy's Fall (5:41), Tick's
Gym (1:24), Leila's Fight (1:32), Angela and Billy (4:10), "Be Respectful" (1:35), and "Don't Get Hit Too Much"
(1:39).
- Southpaw": Inside the Ring (1080p, 21:30): The piece begins with Antoine Fuqua sharing his thoughts on the sport and
reflecting it in Billy Hope. It continues to look at characters, story, themes, boxing scene authenticity, Jake Gyllenhaal's physical training, cast
performances, and more.
- Q&A with Cast (1080p, 18:56): Moderator David Karger hosts a Screen Actors Guild Q&A with Miguel Gomez, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson,
Oona Laurence, Rachel McAdams, and Jake Gyllenhaal from Los Angeles, July 13, 2015.
- Extended Training Montage (1080p, 4:03): Jake Gyllenhaal prepares for the film's physical demands.
Southpaw Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
Southpaw is a fantastic movie that's not about boxing but about life, using the sport as a cut-and-dry metaphor but one supported by
tremendous narrative depth, precision filmmaking, and a remarkable lead performance. This is one of 2015's best films and it'll be a shame if it doesn't
receive several Oscar nominations, including for both Jake Gyllenhaal and Antoine Fuqua. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Southpaw delivers
striking
video and audio. Supplements are fairly average in terms of both quality and quantity. Very highly recommended.