Southpaw

I fell into the Black Friday madness and bought Southpaw for $9 knowing I wanted to see Gyllenhall's Oscar bid. The movie follows him as a boxer from the tough New York foster system. He marries Rachel McAdams, they live in a mansion, they have a daughter, and he fights UGLY. He is a brawler who is somehow 43-0 and holds a bunch of title belts. The movie follows him through another title defense and 50 Cent plays a promoter who is actually pretty good in the role. Gyllenhall defends the title at a pretty steep cost to his body, particularly his face. He retreats to the solace of his wife and daughter. There is another fighter looking to challenge for the crown and in a skirmish SOMEHOW Rachel McAdems gets shot and dies from it on the floor of a hotel. That sends Gyllenhall into a talespin and he somehow loses everything, which I refuse to believe is even possible. His violent tendencies cost him custody of his daughter and he has to rebuild from the bottom working at a gym and training with Forrest Whitaker, the damaged one-eye trainer. Bottom Line: 7.1 out of 10. Very well acted with the exception of his daughter (as bad as that sounds to bash a kid acting...). It's worth a shot when it comes to cable. Gyllenhall bulks up very well for the role, but it's tough to buy him as a bad boy still.