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

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 12, 2016

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.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 19, 2015

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

It's like a 1930s ring melodrama tarted up with lifestyle bling and hyper-professional whoomph, but it's essentially bantamweight.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 26, 2015

Jake Gyllenhaal continues his streak of brilliant performances the Academy will likely ignore.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 25, 2015

I veered between being awed and appalled, though mostly the latter.

| Jul 24, 2015

"Southpaw" is a tremendous accomplishment of mainstream cinematic craft, a near-perfect match of director, material and star.

| Jul 24, 2015

Perhaps overly keen to emulate his hero's turn in Raging Bull, Gyllenhaal puts too much faith in the idea that size matters.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 24, 2015

When you look past Fuqua's jittery directing, which dices up shots and leans the camera close into its star's painstakingly battered mug, Southpaw is a melange of familiar fighter movie ideas and images going back to Rocky.

Full Review | Jul 24, 2015

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.

| Original Score: C+ | Jul 24, 2015

Even when we're aware our emotions are being manipulated, we're rooting hard for Billy Hope to beat the odds and climb the mountain, because have you seen how movie-adorable his daughter is? Don't they deserve some happiness?

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 24, 2015

It's Gyllenhaal -- physically ferocious yet tenderly forlorn -- who sells the movie, putting both the beast and the heartbeat within on full display.

| Original Score: B | Jul 24, 2015

The trouble with how hard Gyllenhaal goes in Southpaw is that he's in the service of weak material, so you notice the effort.

| Jul 24, 2015

Despite its supposedly hard-hitting veneer, the film never goes out on a limb when it counts.

| Original Score: C+ | Jul 24, 2015

When Billy's smart, ardent wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) warns him that he'll be "punch-drunk in two years," she seems off by at least 18 months.

| Jul 24, 2015

In the end "Southpaw" knocks itself to the mat.

| Jul 24, 2015

Like a first-round knockout, Southpaw gets the job done, but it's all just a bit anticlimactic.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 24, 2015

The melodrama is uncomfortably high; the checked-box plot is manipulative.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 24, 2015

Heartfelt performances by Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, and Forest Whitaker give the story more weight than it deserves.

| Original Score: B | Jul 23, 2015

The film is set up like a straightforward redemption story, but what makes Southpaw interesting is the complexity of Hope's character -- thanks to Gyllenhaal's exceptional performance.

| Jul 23, 2015