Billy "The Great" Hope, the reigning junior middleweight boxing champion, has an impressive career, a loving wife and daughter, and a lavish lifestyle. However, when tragedy strikes, Billy hits rock bottom, losing his family, his house and his manager. He soon finds an unlikely savior in Tick Willis, a former fighter who trains the city's toughest amateur boxers. With his future on the line, Hope fights to reclaim the trust of those he loves the most.
Just as director Antoine Fuqua starts to close in on something interesting and unexpected, he retreats to the safety of his corner and gives us what we've seen too many times before: a predictable flurry of melodramatic jabs.
– Chris Nashawaty,
Entertainment Weekly,
24 Jul 2015
fresh:
"Southpaw" is a tremendous accomplishment of mainstream cinematic craft, a near-perfect match of director, material and star.
– Andrew O'Hehir,
Salon.com,
24 Jul 2015
rotten:
I veered between being awed and appalled, though mostly the latter.
– David Edelstein,
New York Magazine/Vulture,
24 Jul 2015
fresh:
Southpaw isn't content with presenting a gallery of cliched characters. It takes the time to put flesh on the bones.
– James Berardinelli,
ReelViews,
26 Jul 2015
rotten:
The modicum of pleasure delivered by "Southpaw" arrives thanks to its cast, who struggle bravely and energetically with the hopelessly bland text and the invisible, impersonal direction.