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Southpaw

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1:03

Southpaw

R

Released Jul 24, 2015

2h 3m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

60%

Tomatometer

239 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Billy "The Great" Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), 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 (Forest Whitaker), 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.

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Critics Consensus

Jake Gyllenhaal delivers an impressively committed performance, but Southpaw beats it down with a dispiriting drama that pummels viewers with genre clichés.

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Max Weiss

Baltimore Magazine

About as subtle as a right uppercut to the jaw, Southpaw is nonetheless a welcome addition to the boxing melodrama genre.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 12, 2016

Full Review

Paul Byrnes

Sydney Morning Herald

Gyllenhaal brings every ounce of his physical self to the role, but rippling muscles and a mashed-up face don't really constitute a performance. It's not quite his fault that Billy is such a maddening character.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 19, 2015

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

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.

Jul 29, 2015

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Denise Pieniazek

A Sala Llena (Argentina)

Southpaw uses the world of boxing as an excuse to talk about different adversities in life, especially around emotional ties. Therefore each fight and each blow contains a meaning in itself, and with each of them the boxer will give a part of his life.

Rated: 8/10

Jan 14, 2024

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The entire film hinges on Gyllenhaal, because everything else onscreen adopts the worn-out blueprints of every boxing film you've ever seen.

Rated: 2/4

Jun 9, 2022

Full Review

Kip Mooney

Central Track

Can't punch its way out of the ring of boxing movie cliches.

Rated: C-

Aug 10, 2021

Full Review

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Garrett B

Southpaw is a heartbreaking yet uplifting sports drama showcasing forgiveness and redemption.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/02/25

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No N

Mostly a mediocre Rocky imitator, chock full of cliche after cliche, often pretty forced. But it was overall watchable if you can get over that. It had the vibe of a movie directed toward 12 year olds. If it was marketed as just a children's movie, I guess that would be okay, but was rated R, and it's hard to see many adults finding it satisfying. If you really lower your bar and just want to veg out watching an unoriginal boxing film with a vaguely feel-good ending, I suppose this fits the bill.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/26/25

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Kingkong K

From superstar to a humble man. I love how billy hope progresses and becomes a better person overall, The fact that he lost it all but still he kept on thriving. It really shows that even though you have fallen, you can still climb back up and reach the top and that’s really a good life lesson. Love the movie and acting !

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

05/06/25

Full Review

Nathan C

It delivers the right punches. Overblows the system coming down on him a bit.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/04/25

Full Review

To F

El personaje que interpreta Jake Gyllenhaal es fenomenal. Se siente tan real e intenso el dolor que vive, aunque en ocasiones llega a caer mal. Aun así la película es excepcional y motivadora al ver a alguien renacer y convertirse en una leyenda.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/18/25

Full Review

Igor S

As usual, Jake killed it in this role. When i first watched a few years back, i thought the fight sequences were good. Upon rewatching it all these years later, i don't think they were bad per say, but they weren't as good as i remembered them. You can see Jake's boxing inexperience and Anthony Fuqua's direction isn't the best here. It's your typical camera work to disguise poor coreography, lack of fight scene realism, etc Having said that, i think where this movie shines is as a drama. It's a decent one, even if a little bit forced and inauthentic at times. Overall, i liked it better when i first watched it all those years back than i did upon rewatching it now, but that doesn't mean this is a bad movie. It's still definitely worth a watch.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/25

Full Review

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Antoine Fuqua

Director

Jake Gyllenhaal

Billy Hope

Forest Whitaker

Tick Willis

Naomie Harris

Angela Rivera

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Oona Laurence

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Southpaw: Trailer 2

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Synopsis

Billy "The Great" Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), 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 (Forest Whitaker), 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.

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Producer: Todd Black, Peter Riche, Alan Riche, Jason Blumenthal, Antoine Fuqua, Steve Tisch, Jerry Ye
Screenwriter: Kurt Sutter
Distributor: Weinstein Co.
Production Co: Escape Artists, Riche Productions, Fuqua Films
Rating: R (Some Violence|Language Throughout)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 24, 2015, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Oct 2, 2015
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $52.4M
Runtime: 2h 3m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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