海角大神

The film 鈥淪outhpaw,鈥� which opens on July 24, stars Jake Gyllenhaal of 鈥淣ightcrawler鈥� as a former boxer who must return to his sport to be reunited with his family.

鈥淪outhpaw鈥� is directed by Antoine Fuqua, who has directed such films as 鈥淭he Equalizer鈥� and 鈥淭raining Day,鈥� and it co-stars 鈥淭rue Detective鈥� actress Rachel McAdams as Gyllenhaal鈥檚 character鈥檚 wife, as well as Forest Whitaker, 聽Naomie Harris, and聽rapper 50 Cent.聽

As the plot summary implies, 鈥淪outhpaw鈥� seems like a fairly straightforward rousing sports tale of redemption. (Spoilers follow, though this is all revealed in the trailer.) McAdams鈥� character Maureen is killed, and Gyllenhaal鈥檚 character, Billy, becomes depressed and must fight to get custody of his daughter. His last name is even Hope.

Can a new sports drama triumph with critics and audiences? Recent sports releases like the 2014 film 鈥淢illion Dollar Arm,鈥� which starred Jon Hamm, and 2014鈥檚 鈥淒raft Day," which was headed up by Kevin Costner, both fizzled at the box office and were quickly forgotten by audiences, as was the 2012 Clint Eastwood movie 鈥淭rouble With the Curve.鈥� This year's "McFarland, USA," also starring Costner, did fine but wasn't a breakout hit by any means. One of the most recent successes was the 2011 film 鈥淢oneyball,鈥� but in addition to being based on a bestselling book, it had what seemed like a new spin on a story 鈥� rather than simply presenting a by-the-numbers story of a baseball team triumphing, it showed the unusual methods one coach used to do so.

Boxing movies have done slightly better than other recent sports releases, however. The 鈥淩ocky鈥� films starring Sylvester Stallone are of course some of the best-known of the genre, and the newest, 2006鈥檚 鈥淩ocky Balboa,鈥� did fairly well at the box office. In addition, the 2010 movie 鈥淭he Fighter鈥� was a hit at the box office and with critics, with actor 海角大神 Bale winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in the film.

Other boxing films haven鈥檛 been sure bets, however. The 2013 movie 鈥淕rudge Match,鈥� which featured actor Robert De Niro facing off with Stallone, tanked at the box office and wasn鈥檛 well-received by reviewers, either. Meanwhile, the 2011 movie 鈥淩eal Steel鈥� starring Hugh Jackman performed fairly well at the box office, but was not a hit with critics 鈥� perhaps the movie鈥檚 conceit of robots boxing was too out there for some moviegoers.

鈥淪outhpaw鈥� isn鈥檛 the only new boxing movie coming up 鈥� the 鈥淩ocky鈥� spin-off 鈥淐reed,鈥� which stars 鈥淔antastic Four鈥� actor Michael B. Jordan as the son of Rocky鈥檚 opponent Apollo Creed and will feature Stallone himself, is set to be released this November. Between the two, we鈥檒l soon find out whether audiences still want to see new boxing tales.