‘Southpaw’ lands a few punches, misses most

Antoine Fuqua isn’t a bad director. He’s always had the ability to shoot scenes in new and exciting ways.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for his newest film, “Southpaw.”

The opening scene is the film’s best. Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), beaten, bloody, dances back and forth in the ring in slow motion as he screams into the camera.

It’s visceral; it’s visually rich.

The film engages in the beginning. Hope’s wife (Rachel McAdams) comes from the same impoverished background as he does, and the dynamic they share brings a unique depth and complexity to the film.

But she’s killed about 20 minutes in. And unfortunately, the film dies with her.

From there “Southpaw” knocks out its audience with a formulaic barrage of clichés and lazy plot turns.

It’s an age-old narrative – boxer loses everything, boxer loses his will to live, boxer inexplicably finds it again, boxer seeks revenge, boxer finds a hard-nosed no-nonsense trainer, trainer trains boxer back to form, boxer is pitted against the man responsible for his downfall in a finale.

It’s “Raging Bull;” it’s “Million Dollar Baby;” it’s sickeningly uninspired.

Gyllenhaal is the diamond in the rough for Fuqua. He delivers another performance on par with his previous three films (“End of Watch,” “Prisoners” and “Nightcrawler”).

It’s a cliché to say that an actor is unrecognizable in a role, but Gyllenhaal gets lost in the tatted-up, from-the-wrong-part-of-town character. And it’s dazzling to watch.

He carries every scene as he brings new layers and new substance to a character archetype we’ve all scene before. And frankly, he deserved a better film to back his performance.

Instead, a shallow script that had less ingenuity than a syndicated television series accompanied him.

What makes “Southpaw” an even bigger miss is that another boxing movie that’s turning some heads is being released later this year.

MGM Studios believes it has a true Oscar player in “Creed,” a film about the son of famous “Rocky” character Apollo Creed, as it’s being released in late November – prime Oscar campaign territory.

“Southpaw” is worth a watch simply for Gyllenhaal’s performance, but the humdrum narrative will make it painful.