Can Jake Gyllenhaal finally land a punch in the Oscar race?
You’re watching Beyond The Trailer’s review of Southpaw...
Southpaw is slang for left-handed, which is unusual in boxing and baseball - often considered
something to be overcome, yet once overcome, a quality that can become a distinct advantage.
And Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter, who scripted Southpaw, was particularly proud
of the title because he intended it as a double entendre. See, Southpaw was originally written
for Eminem, and Sutter saw being a white hip-hop artist as a parallel to being a left-handed
boxer. But alas, while Marshall Mathers had signed on to star in Southpaw in 2010 - in
what would be his follow up acting-wise to Eight Mile - a few years later Eminem decided
he was content to produce and contribute to the soundtrack. And so Jake Gyllenhaal took
on the lead role, another hot talent who seems to have the odds stacked against him. Yes,
despite a string of impressive performances over the last few years including Source Code,
End of Watch, Prisoners and Nightcrawler, Gyllenhaal hasn't been nominated for an Oscar
since 2006 with Brokeback Mountain. But speaking of Nightcrawler, while that film didn't earn
him an Oscar nom, it did earn him a new level of respect among fans - many of whom felt
he was robbed of that Oscar nom. And while Southpaw echoes his role in Nightcrawler in
terms of physical transformation, will it keep Gyllenhaal's newfound momentum with fans
going? And finally, Southpaw the movie itself has the left-handed equivalent of an awards
release date, bowing in late July with the hopes of getting out ahead of what's going
to be an incredibly competitive Oscar season. So, does Southpaw overcome all its disadvantages
and emerge a lean, mean awards fighting machine?
It does have one heck of a trainer...
Harvey Weinstein!