Southpaw

Billy Hope is at the top of the boxing world, a charismatic junior middleweight with a loving family and a flashy lifestyle. His days are filled with training, triumphs, and showy celebrations, until a devastating personal disaster upends everything. In a sudden blow, he loses his wife and daughter, his home, and the trust of his team, leaving him broke and broken. A grizzled, former trainer named Tick Willis steps in, promising to mold a tough, unglamorous gym into a path back to respect. With his future hanging in the balance, Billy must relearn discipline, repair broken relationships, and rediscover what he fights for, one round at a time for redemption.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, this boxing drama is credited to Kurt Sutter for the story. It features Jake Gyllenhaal as the champion Billy Hope with Rachel McAdams, Forest Whitaker, Oona Laurence, and 50 Cent in supporting roles.

This film stands out for its grounded approach to arena drama. Gyllenhaal's physical transformation and the grueling training sequences give the sport a visceral feel, while Tick Willis's coaching philosophy adds moral ballast. The title character's grit and the raw portrayal of loss linger beyond the ring, contributing to a wave of boxing prestige pictures that mix personal stakes with sport.

Critics generally framed Southpaw as a solid if imperfect blend of genre thrills and emotional weight. They praised the performances, especially Gyllenhaal's commitment and the family angle, while noting some overlong stretches and melodrama. Core themes center on resilience after catastrophe, the bonds of family, and the costs of fame, with the sport serving as both refuge and battleground.

Box office data isn't provided in this dataset, so I can't report exact figures or totals. The film's commercial performance, while solid for its budget, found its audience primarily among sports drama fans.