Billy ‘The Great’ Hope (Gyllenhaal) has it all. He’s the reigning Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World, and leads a lavish life, supported by his loving wife Maureen (McAdams) and his adorable daughter.

When Maureen persuades him to retire to spend time with his family, a series of tragedies causes his world to fall apart. His only possible redemption is back in the ring, and Billy finds an unlikely saviour at a run-down local gym: Titus ‘Tick’ Willis (Whitaker), a tough trainer and former boxer who must whip Billy back into shape – so that Billy can do the same for his life.

Boxing movies have a simple but effective appeal: tough men putting themselves at their most vulnerable for the possibility of riches and self-respect. It’s a tried and true formula that has worked for such films as Rocky, Raging Bull and The Fighter and it works again here.

With a transformative performance from a solid actor like Gyllenhaal in the centre, a script by Kurt Sutter (creator of “Sons of Anarchy”) and direction by tough-guy specialist Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer), Southpaw is a simple, emotional story of failure, hope and redemption in the toughest of circumstances.