Almost every person has probably experienced what it is like when the time on the clock is slowing dwindling down to an end.  Maybe it has been from playing a sport, and personally witnessing this feeling, or just from watching a sports event on the TV.  The anxiousness starts to pile up like bricks, and your palms get a sweaty and clammy to the touch.  Your heart rate increases, and all you can hear is the pounding sound of your heart thumping and the ticks of the timer.  The greed builds up.  The need to be successful and walk out with your head held high is all you desire.  The seconds turn into days, and it seems like it will never be over.  Finally, once the time runs out, and it is finally over, the anxious feelings fade into your memory, and the shocked, over the top excitement replaces the anxiousness.  Well, that’s the case for Billy Hope, the main character of Southpaw.  

Billy Hope, portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal, is a professional boxer with his life at the top.  He has a career, a mansion, mountains of money, a solid group of friends/co-workers, and a loving family (wife and a daughter).  It seemed like nothing could turn his world upside down — until one day.  On the night of a charity event, the worst that could happen happens, and his life crumbles right in front of his eyes, and then it starts crashing down even harder. Now Billy has to find a way to get his life back to the way it once was. Finding a small gym turns into a new opportunity for him, when the owner Titus “Tick” Wills, a retired boxer, helps him train so he can fight again.  Billy is learning to piece his life back together.

Throughout the movie, Billy learns what is most important to him.  Of course, having a well paying job is extremely helpful, but that’s not all he needs to achieve happiness. The movie is well put together, and it has an eas story line.  There is some fowl language, which would not be suitable for younger audiences (hence the R rating), but it is still one of the best movies out there.  The story is so emotional and deep, which makes it an intense tear jerker.  If you don’t cry during this movie, you probably didn’t cry watching The Fault In Our Stars.  Southpaw will make you appreciate the life you have.