Southpaw (7/10): Jake "The Great" Gyllenhaal delivers a knock out performance.

“Billy Hope knows how to take a punch, but he also drops bombs.”

Antoine Fuqua’s third film in the same amount of years may not be as exciting as last year’s The Equalizer, but it does benefit from having one of the best performance’s of the year. Jake Gyllenhaal’s commitment to the role is reason enough to recommend the movie and forgive some of its generic dramatic flaws. Training Day still remains Fuqua’s best film, but Gyllenhaal’s physical transformation gives Denzel Washington some competition here for best performance in a Fuqua film. When the film focuses on the boxing scenes it is at the top of its game, but when it stretches the drama towards the family dynamics it loses its appeal by feeling too conventional and melodramatic. Fuqua was aiming at directing an authentic film and stylistically it succeeds, but the beats are way too familiar and it’s full of cliches. What I loved about the realism in the boxing scenes is that Fuqua created a sense of illusion for the audience of being a ringside spectator, as the sound of the fans cheering drowned down the voice of the TV commentators giving us a sense of witnessing the event from up close. Despite his efforts to make the film look authentic, boxing fans know that the sport isn’t as exciting as they made it out to be here. Gyllenhaal got all the right moves and mannerisms for his character, but we know there aren’t as many punches thrown in real life and that most of the rounds are spent with the referee trying to break up the fighters from hugging each other so much. Gyllenhaal saves this film from the familiar melodrama and cliches found in the genre, which just goes on to prove how difficult it is to do what Stallone did with the Rocky franchise. That was one of the rare cases where both the drama and the sport combined perfectly to deliver an emotional punch to audiences around the globe. I think Fuqua was aiming a bit too high here trying to direct a modern day version of Raging Bull, but there are just some films that can’t be imitated no matter what great of a cast you have.  

This was writer Kurt Sutter’s first film screenplay, despite having written for successful TV shows such as The Shield and Sons of Anarchy prior to this. He begins the story by introducing us to boxer, Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), as he is in the locker room getting prepared for his fight. His wife, Maureen (Rachel McAdams), who has been with him since the two were young teenagers, is next to him as the trainers are giving him the last instructions and putting on his gloves. When his name is called by the announcers we find out that he is the undefeated champion in his division and has accumulated more than 40 wins. The arena is packed and everyone is chanting his name, but the fight doesn’t begin as well as he had hoped. After receiving several punches throughout the first rounds, Hope finally reacts and knocks his opponent out in the tenth round. The media goes crazy over him during the press conference after the fight where he is once again accompanied by Maureen and his promoter, Jordan Mains (50 Cent). The conference is interrupted by Miguel Escobar (Miguel Gomez), a young upcoming contender who wants his shot at the title, but he is dismissed by Billy. When he finally returns to his beautiful home, Billy gives his young daughter Leila (Oona Laurence) a goodnight kiss and cuddles with her for a while. Everything seems perfect for him, but his life crumbles when his wife is killed in a tragic accident and for the first time in his life he doesn’t have someone there guiding him in his every move. His suicidal and erratic behavior makes him lose everything including the house and his daughter who is sent to child protection services. After touching bottom and in order to get his life back on track, Billy enlists the help of Tick Willis (Forest Whitaker) who takes him in to his gym and begins training him for his shot at redemption.

The plot is way too familiar and it hits every possible cliche along the way, but despite it all Jake Gyllenhaal elevates the material by making his character compelling. I didn’t believe some of the melodramatic moments, but the boxing and training scenes were enough for me to enjoy it. The film puts a lot of emphasis on the father and daughter relationship and it isn’t always believable how easy it goes from a love hate relationship from one scene to the next. There are also several subplots that distract from the main story and slow down the pacing of the film. For instance, the relationship Billy builds with one of the kids in Tick’s gym only serves as a way for us to sympathize with the main protagonist and believe in his transformation, but it doesn’t go anywhere else with it. The film introduces several scenes like this as a convenient means to move along the story, but they don’t add up too much. You know exactly where the story is heading at the end, but you can’t help but feel engaged by Gyllenhaal’s performance, and in the end he is the reason why the film succeeds along with other solid supporting work from McAdams and Whitaker.  

My Review: Escape Plan (6/10)

"You hit like a vegetarian."

I was surprised that I actually ended up enjoying this film so much considering I was expecting this to be another Expendables 2 fiasco. Directed by Mikael Hafstrom (1408, The Rite), Escape Plan had an interesting premise, but the truth of the matter is I was drawn to it because I wanted to see the Italian Stalion and the Governator sharing leading roles for the first time. If this film would've taken place in the 80's or early 90's it would've been a box office hit and an instant classic. I'm sure that I at least would've given this film a much higher rating considering I was a huge fan of these cheesy and brainless shoot-em-up films during the 90's, but now my taste for this genre has cooled down and I found several flaws within the story. Despite those flaws, I still had a great time watching these two legends play off each other sharing some great chemistry and charisma together. My enjoyment of Escape Plan might be influenced by a high degree of nostalgia, but I'd still recommend this film.

The screenplay written by Miles Chapman centers on an eminent authority on structural security, Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone), who enters hundreds of prisons as an undercover prisoner and uses his skills to escape from it unveiling its flaws in the process. After accepting his next assignment he's framed and sent to a maximum security prison run by the warden Hobbes (Jim Caviezel) which has been designed based on Ray's own recommendations. Ray teams up with another prisoner named Emit Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and together they begin searching for flaws in the system in order to escape, but Hobbes keeps a close watch on them once he realizes who Ray really is. It won't be an easy task, but Ray has managed to find flaws in every system and he will need to do it once more if he wants to leave this place.

In general prison break movies appeal to me (I was a huge fan of the first two seasons of Prison Break) so this film presented an interesting premise. There were several flaws and twists that didn't work, but in general I had a good time with this suspenseful thriller (and when I say suspenseful I don't mean it in the way Paul Greengrass delivers tension, but in a much lighter but enjoyable way). The film does reach a point where it begins to feel overlong and a bit ridiculous (mostly around the third act), but I still thought it was worth it and that Arnie stole the show with his usual gags and one liners. The villains were underdeveloped and a bit over the top, but I was still glad to see Caviezel back in an important role. Escape Plan is an entertaining film that will quickly be forgotten, but works as an escapism from a dull and boring day.

My Review: Home of the Brave (4/10)

"Will, what happened over there?"

This was the last film directed by Academy Award winning producer Irwin Winkler who recently has gone back to doing what he does best: producing movies. Home of the Brave is an overly melodramatic war film that fails to connect with the audience despite its good intentions. The acting in this film is pretty bad, the script is absolutely terrible, and the direction felt too generic. The script, written by Mark Friedman, was very unsubtle, hammering us over the head with the PTSD suffered by the soldiers who returned home from Iraq. Several war films have dealt with these issues far better and in a more subtle manner than Home of the Brave does. Winkler has good intentions with this film, he doesn't try to send a political anti-war message or anything like that but rather focuses on the pain the soldiers have to face when they return home and how difficult adapting can become for them. Those noble intentions, didn't translate well into a film that was full of war cliches and terrible dialogues. It became too melodramatic and the characters were never developed realistically. It just rang false and it should've dealt with such a serious issue in a more complex manner. I couldn't connect with any of the characters in this film and was disappointed with Winkler's direction.

The story follows a group of soldiers in the Iraq War who are pleased to receive the news that their tour of duty is coming to an end in two weeks. As they make plans of what they will do when they return home, they are sent on a humanitarian mission to deliver some medical supplies at a nearby village. One of the convoys is driven by Vanessa Price (Jessica Biel), while another one is guarded by Tommy Yates (Brian Presley), his hometown best friend Jordan (Chad Michael Murray), and Jamal (50 Cent). A surgeon named Will Marsh (Samuel Jackson) also accompanies them on the mission. Upon arriving at the village the unit is ambushed and several lives are lost, while others suffer psychological traumas and physical injuries. The lives of these soldiers are changed forever and once they arrive home to their families they must learn how to adjust to their "normal" lives. We see how each one of these characters have difficulty doing so as they continue to be emotionally torn by the war, while some of them continue to cross each other's path back home in Washington.

Home of the Brave felt tremendously out dated despite it only being made 7 years ago. It probably has to do with the fact that this film was a bit lazy in the way they tried to tackle the subject matter. It is something we've seen in many other war movies recently that have had a much more subtle approach. This film just felt too repetitive and predictable. The performance from the cast also hurt this film tremendously and not even Samuel L Jackson could do enough to save this. There is a short cameo by Christina Ricci that really felt out of place, like many other moments in this film. The different stories didn't connect very well either and the characters were just presented in a very lazy manner. Home of the Brave has all the war cliches you can think of and doesn't present anything groundbreaking or original.

My Review: 13 (4/10)

¨13 didn`t pull the trigger. You have to pull the trigger.¨

13 is a remake of a 2005 Georgian film ¨13 Tzameti¨ which was also written and directed by Gela Babluani. Unlike the original film in which Babluani also stared, this time the film had a lot of known Hollywood actors and it was filmed in color. The film has an interesting concept and it could have worked for a short film, but not for a full length feature film. Even at 97 minutes long the movie feels stretched and the dialogue really didn’t help either. There are some interesting and thrilling moments, but not enough to save this film. I had no idea what 13 was about before watching it so at the beginning I was drawn and intrigued to what was going to happen, but after the suspense was over the film got lost in the narrative. I also was expecting more from the cast because there were some interesting actors involved in the project, but the only real one who stands out in this film was Sam Riley (who I loved in Control). Riley gave a great performance and he is probably the best thing about this film. Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Alexander Skarsgard, and Michael Shannon were all underused, and they had little screen time to truly shine. With a better script this movie could have been much better. I was also a little disappointed with the ending, but I don’t want to give anything away, so I won`t say anything more about it.  

The less you know about the plot probably the better, but since the movie isn’t really that good I will go ahead and tell you about it. If you don’t want to know anything about the story then just go ahead and skip this paragraph. Vince (Sam Riley) is an electrician who has to put his home on mortgage in order to pay for his father`s operations because he`s very ill. Apparently the operation isn’t successful and they have to operate him again, which means Vince is going to need more money. That same day while he is working at someone`s house named William (Michael Berry Jr.) he overhears him speaking to his wife about the opportunity he just got of making a lot of money, while holding an envelope he just opened in his hands. That same day, William overdoses, and Vince doesn’t hesitate in taking the envelope and trying to figure out if he can make some money in his place. In the envelope he finds a number of hints that will lead him to some sort of secret place. Once he arrives to the location indicated he is taken by a driver named Jack (Alexander Skarsgard) to an underground building where a lot of wealthy people are gathered together making bets. He is given a number, 13, and before he can back out he discovers that he is part of a deadly game where other men gamble on his life. There are others just like him such as Jefferson (Mickey Rourke), Ronald (Ray Winstone), and many more that are all given numbers and are forced to point guns at each other with one bullet. They all have to shoot, those who are lucky survive.

13 is really poorly developed. The concept was interesting at first, but it got really boring after a while thanks in most part to a terrible script and very little character development. There were so many characters that were just wasted in the film and some of the background stories that were told about them were useless. Mickey Rourke and Jason Statham are both great actors, but their roles in this film were absolutely pointless. I really don’t understand how a movie like this needed to be made. The only positive thing I can say about 13 is that Sam Riley had a lead role and he was great. He was the only character that was really developed, and he did a decent job with the poor material he had to work with. There were a couple of intense moments, but like I said before, it could have worked well in a short film, but not in a movie like this. I really wouldn’t recommend this movie, unless you are a fan of Sam Riley (in that case just watch Control all over again and skip this).

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