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Southpaw (film)

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Southpaw
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAntoine Fuqua
Written byKurt Sutter
Produced by
  • Todd Black
  • Jason Blumenthal
  • Steve Tisch
  • Peter Riche
  • Alan Riche
  • Antoine Fuqua
  • Jerry Ye
Starring
CinematographyMauro Fiore
Edited byJohn Refoua
Music byJames Horner[1]
Production
companies
Distributed byThe Weinstein Company
Release dates
  • June 15, 2015 (2015-06-15) (SIFF)
  • July 24, 2015 (2015-07-24) (United States)
Running time
123 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[3]

Southpaw is a 2015 American sports drama thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Kurt Sutter. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, and Rachel McAdams. The film was released on July 24, 2015, by The Weinstein Company.

Synopsis

Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhall) is a boxer who lives in New York City with his wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) and their daughter Leila (Oona Laurence). During a match in which he wins the World Light Heavyweight championship, Billy sustains an eye injury and is convinced by Maureen to retire while he's at the top. At a cerimony to announce his decision, Billy is taunted by an up-and-coming boxer, Miguel "Magic" Escobar, leading to a brawl in which Maureen is accidentally shot by Miguel's brother Hector, who flees.

Billy begins abusing alcohol and drugs while obsessively searching for Miguel. He eventually gets a tip of his whereabouts, but finds only his drug-addict wife, Maria (Rita Ora), and leaves after learning Hector is a father. After punching a referee out of frustration after losing a fight, Billy is left indebted and has his house and his belongings repossessed. He continues to spiral out of control and nearly dies after crashing his car while driving intoxicated, which also causes him to lose custody of Leila, who is put under care of Child Protective Services officer Angela Rivera (Naomie Harris). The incident drives Billy to become sober, but Leila cuts ties with him, blaming him for their predictament.

At the behest of friends, Billy gets a job at a gym owned by a seasoned boxer, Titus "Tick" Wills (Forest Whitaker), and eventually convinces Tick to become his trainer. Billy's manager Jordan Mains (Curtis Jackson) arranges a fight between Billy and Miguel, that could put Billy back in the spotlight. Tick is reluctant to train Billy, fearful he might be blinded by his vendetta against Miguel, but is motivated to do so when another of his students is killed by his abusive father while attempting to defend his mother.

Leila is allowed to watch the fight with Angela, still reluctant to forgive her father. As the match begins, Miguel has the upper hand against Billy, but, with Tick's advice, Billy turns the tables, prompting Miguel to use Maureen to psychologically undermine Billy and goad him into a suspension, but Billy is able to remain calm and maintain Miguel at bay until the fight is over. Billy is declared the winner on points and reunites with Leila in the locker room, where she forgives his past mistakes and they embrace.

Cast

Production

On December 13, 2010, DreamWorks acquired the script, with Eminem eyed to play the lead role.[13] The film's screenwriter Kurt Sutter said the project was inspired by the rapper's personal struggles. He stated that he took meetings with Eminem's producing partners over the past seven years, looking for something to do together. "I know he's very selective and doesn't do a lot. But he shared so much of his personal struggle in this raw and very honest album, one that I connected with on a lot of levels. He is very interested in the boxing genre, and it seemed like an apt metaphor, because his own life has been a brawl. In a way, this is a continuation of the 8 Mile story, but we are doing a metaphorical narrative of the second chapter of his life. He'll play a world champion boxer who really hits a hard bottom, and has to fight to win back his life for his young daughter. At its core, this is a retelling of his struggles over the last five years of his life, using the boxing analogy. I love that the title refers to Marshall being a lefty, which is to boxing what a white rapper is to hip hop; dangerous, unwanted, and completely unorthodox. It's a much harder road for a southpaw than a right handed boxer. There is a rich story here that references his own experience, and I was honored to be able to continue a relationship that began with 8 Mile."[13]

On June 6, 2011, it was announced Antoine Fuqua was in talks to direct the film.[14] On August 11, 2011, DreamWorks dropped the film.[15] On October 20, 2011, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picked up the film, with Columbia Pictures set to distribute.[16] In May 2012, Eminem put the film on hold to focus on music.[17] On March 6, 2014, Antoine Fuqua signed on to direct the film, with Jake Gyllenhaal replacing Eminem in the lead role and The Weinstein Company distributing the film.[4] On May 14, 2014, Forest Whitaker, Lupita Nyong'o, and Rachel McAdams joined the cast.[5] On June 6, 2014, Miguel Gomez joined the cast of the film.[10] On June 17, 2014, Victor Ortiz joined the cast of the film.[7] On August 7, 2014, Beau Knapp joined the cast of the film to play Jon Jon, the protagonist’s lifelong best friend.[12] On August 8, 2014, Naomie Harris joined the cast of the film, to replace Lupita Nyong'o in the role of Angela Rivera.[6] On November 7, 2014, Harvey Weinstein confirmed British singer Rita Ora as part of the cast.[18] Principal photography began on June 16, 2014.[19] Filming has taken place in Pittsburgh and Indiana, Pennsylvania, and sets in New York.[20][21]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Shanghai International Film Festival on June 15, 2015, where it was in competition,[22] and it is scheduled to be released on July 24, 2015, by The Weinstein Company.[23]

Reception

Southpaw has received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 57%, based on 139 reviews, with a rating average of 5.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Jake Gyllenhaal delivers an impressively committed performance, but Southpaw beats it down with a dispiriting drama that pummels viewers with genre clichés."[24] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 56 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[25]

Soundtrack

Main article: Southpaw (soundtrack)

Eminem will executive produce the soundtrack, with Shady Records, which he released his single from the soundtrack called "Phenomenal" on June 2, 2015.[26]

An album of James Horner's score will be released through Sony Classical on July 24, 2015.[27] This was Horner's final score (it was recorded after The 33, although Southpaw is due to be released first); he was killed in a plane crash on June 22, 2015.[28]

References

  1. ^ "James Horner Resume" (PDF). GSA Music. December 15, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  2. ^ "SOUTHPAW (15)". British Board of Film Classification. June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  3. ^ http://deadline.com/2015/07/pixels-paper-towns-southpaw-ant-man-box-office-1201482714/
  4. ^ a b Busch, Anita (2014-03-06). "Antoine Fuqua To Direct 'Southpaw' Movie Starring Jake Gyllenhaal". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  5. ^ a b c Fleming, Mike (2014-05-14). "Kurt Sutter's 'Southpaw' Movie Eyes Forest Whitaker, Rachel McAdams & Lupita Nyong'o". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  6. ^ a b Yamato, Jen (1970-01-01). "Naomie Harris Joins Jake Gyllenhaal In 'Southpaw'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  7. ^ a b Fleming, Mike (2014-06-17). "'Southpaw' Adds Ex-Champ Victor Ortiz To Cast". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  8. ^ Smith, Emily (2014-06-26). "50 Cent joins the cast of Jake Gyllenhaal's boxing movie". Page Six. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
  9. ^ "Tyrese Gibson Joins "Southpaw" Cast - Mr. Wavvy". Mr. Wavvy.
  10. ^ a b "Kaitlyn Dever Joins 'The Greens Are Gone'; Miguel Gomez Cast In 'Southpaw'; Richard Cabral Books 'Blood Father'". Deadline.com. 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  11. ^ "MATILDA's Oona Laurence to Star in Boxing Drama SOUTHPAW - BWWMoviesWorld". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  12. ^ a b "Beau Knapp Joins 'Southpaw'". deadline.com. August 7, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Fleming, Mike (2010-12-13). "DreamWorks Teams With Eminem And Kurt Sutter For 'Southpaw'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  14. ^ "Eminem Boxing Movie Close to Landing 'Training Day' Director Antoine Fuqua". The Hollywood Reporter. 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  15. ^ Fleming, Mike (2011-08-11). "Eminem-Antoine Fuqua Boxing Drama 'Southpaw' Dropped By DreamWorks But Still Seeking To Answer Bell". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  16. ^ Jeff Sneider (2011-10-20). "MGM closes Eminem pic 'Southpaw'". Variety. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  17. ^ "Eminem delays second movie, 'Southpaw' to focus on music". Rolling Stone. 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  18. ^ "Rita hits Hollywood: Brit superstar heads to LA for meetings with movie big wigs ahead of her Fifty Shades of Grey debut". Daily Mail. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  19. ^ "On The Set For 6/16/14: Boxing Drama 'Southpaw' Starts, 'American Ultra' Wraps". Studiosystemnews.com. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  20. ^ "'Southpaw' movie now filming in Downtown Pittsburgh". wtae. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  21. ^ "Pittsburgh native Antoine Fuqua returns to direct 'Southpaw'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  22. ^ Kevin Ma (June 4, 2015). "Shanghai completes competition lineup". Film Business Asia. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  23. ^ "Southpaw Set for July 31st Release; Sacha Baron Cohen Comedy Pushed to 2016". Collider. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  24. ^ "Southpaw". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  25. ^ "Southpaw". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  26. ^ Rhian Daly (23 May 2015). "NME News Eminem to release new song on 'Southpaw' soundtrack - NME.COM". NME.COM.
  27. ^ "'Southpaw' Score Album Details - Film Music Reporter". Film Music Reporter. June 2, 2015.
  28. ^ "Pilot dies in plane registered to James Horner, Titanic composer". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Associated Press. June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
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