Southpaw (film)

Southpaw is a 2015 sports drama film directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by Kurt Sutter, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, and Rachel McAdams. The film was released on July 24, 2015, by The Weinstein Company.

This was one of the last films to be scored by James Horner, before the composer's death, and one of three posthumous releases to feature his music. The film and the movie's soundtrack album are dedicated to his memory.

Plot

Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) is an undefeated professional boxer living in New York City with his wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) and their daughter Leila (Oona Laurence). During a match in which he defends his World Light Heavyweight title, Billy sustains an eye injury and is convinced by Maureen to retire while he's on top. At a charity event for the orphanage where he and his wife both grew up, Billy is taunted by an up-and-coming boxer, Miguel "Magic" Escobar, leading to a brawl in which Maureen is accidentally shot and killed by Miguel's brother Hector, who flees.

Handedness

Handedness is a better (faster or more precise) performance or individual preference for use of a hand, known as the dominant hand. Handedness is not a discrete variable (right or left), but a continuous one that can be expressed at levels between strong left and strong right.

There are four types of handedness: left-handedness, right-handedness, mixed-handedness, and ambidexterity. Left-handedness is somewhat more common among men than among women.

Types

Film

A film, also called a movie, motion picture or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession. A film is created by photographing actual scenes with a motion picture camera; by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques; by means of CGI and computer animation; or by a combination of some or all of these techniques and other visual effects. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to the industry of films and filmmaking or to the art of filmmaking itself. The contemporary definition of cinema is the art of simulating experiences to communicate ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty or atmosphere by the means of recorded or programmed moving images along with other sensory stimulations.

The process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry.

Jake Gyllenhaal

Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal (/ˈdʒɪlənhɔːl/ JIL-ən-hawl; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at the age of ten. Following his first lead role in October Sky (1999), he starred in the indie cult hit Donnie Darko (2001), in which he played a psychologically troubled teenager alongside his older sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal. In 2002, he starred in another indie film, The Good Girl. In 2004, he appeared in the climate fiction-disaster film The Day After Tomorrow, portraying a student caught in a cataclysmic climate event.

Gyllenhaal played a frustrated Marine in Jarhead (2005) and, the same year, his role as Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain earned him critical acclaim. For his Brokeback Mountain performance, he won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the Academy Award in the same category. He has since played lead roles in many films, including Zodiac (2007), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Love & Other Drugs (2010), Source Code (2011), End of Watch (2012), Prisoners (2013), Nightcrawler (2014), and Southpaw (2015).

Rachel McAdams

Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a four-year theatre program at York University in 2001, she initially worked in Canadian television and film productions such as the drama film Perfect Pie (2002) (for which she received a Genie Award nomination), the comedy film My Name Is Tanino (2002), and the comedy mini-series Slings and Arrows (for which she won a Gemini Award). In 2002, she made her Hollywood film debut in the comedy The Hot Chick. McAdams found fame in 2004, with the character of Regina George in the comedy Mean Girls and with her performance in the romantic drama The Notebook. In 2005, she starred in the romantic comedy Wedding Crashers, the psychological thriller Red Eye, and the family comedy-drama The Family Stone. She was hailed by the media as Hollywood's new "it girl", and received a BAFTA nomination for Best Rising Star.

After a two-year career break, McAdams appeared in two limited release films in 2008; the film noir Married Life and the road trip comedy-drama The Lucky Ones. She returned to prominence in 2009 by appearing in the political thriller State of Play, the science-fiction romantic drama The Time Traveler's Wife and the mystery/action-adventure film Sherlock Holmes. In 2010, McAdams appeared in her first star vehicle, the comedy Morning Glory. In 2011, she starred in Woody Allen's romantic comedy Midnight in Paris and reprised her role in the mystery/action-adventure sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. She next starred in the romantic drama The Vow (2012), and shortly after starred in the romantic comedy About Time. In 2015, she starred as Ani Bezzerides in season two of HBO's anthology crime drama True Detective, and as Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sacha Pfeiffer in Spotlight. For her performance in Spotlight, she received nominations for the SAG Award, Critics' Choice Award, and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.