Thoughts about Southpaw

I was watching Southpaw and I thought to myself that an alternate title to the film could be the downfall and ressurection of Billy Hope. The stasis moment comes after he has defended his title, living in a large house, with nice cars, a pool, etc. and he is giving a speech to raise money for orphans. Everything is perfect. Until Billy can't ignore an insult and is drawn into a fight which ends his wife's life, brings his boxing career to end, and eviscerates him completely. After he loses his title he is shown weeping in a shower with nothing but his boxing socks on. He looks pitiful. He later crashes his car and loses his daughter and mansion.

Here I thought Billy Hope is at his low. He has fallen from Olympus. Then I thought, how is the screenwriter going to get him back to the top of Olympus? What will Billy go through to regain his title and his daughter? I started to think of the redemptive hero. I drew a parallel to the story of Jesus coming back from the dead. Billy dies, then, with the help of Forest Whitaker, he comes back to life to take the title and get some kind of satisfaction for his wife's murder.

The final fight gives a "hollywood ending." There is both a knockout blow and a tension filled reading of judges scorecards. Finally Billy wins. His daughter cheers. All of the plot points are resolved.

I couldn't help thinking back to when my uncle Joe Pat used to order the "fights" on pay per view. I remember watching "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler vs. Sugar Ray Leonard. I had a VHS tape of it. I watched it at least once. I must have been eight or nine years old. I guess my uncle would follow boxing in the New York Post or Daily News. He used to read the city tabloids in his t-shirt and boxer shorts. His chair faced the TV. My great uncle would sit opposite him and my aunt would have a chair that looked askance at the TV.

Another aspect I noticed about the film is that all the dominos fell in a row. In screenwriting screenwriters talk about dominos falling in a row. In Southpaw all the dominos fall in a row, one after the other. It also follows the three act structure. The first act ends with Billy Crashing his car and ending up in police custody. The second act ends when he gets Whitaker to be his trainer for the big fight. The end of the movie show Billy with his daughter having won back the title.

As with all movies there are some glaring points of contension about the believability of the film. How could a white guy win a major title in boxing these days? etc. etc.

Southpaw is a solid story. Well written and not too predictable. Even though I knew Billy would win. I just didn't know how far he would fall.