Southpaw

A part written for Eminem

Kurt Sutter, creator of Sons of Anarchy, wrote the script with Eminem and his story in mind. The rapper dropped out in 2012 and Jake Gyllenhaal, fresh from Nightcrawler, took over. Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) directed. Set in New York, the film was shot in and around Pittsburgh. The score is one of James Horner's last; he died in June 2015 and the film is dedicated to him. Eminem produced the soundtrack album.

Five months of camp

Gyllenhaal trained for five months, twice a day, with Terry Claybon, a former pro boxer who had trained Fuqua for years; the director did part of the programme too. Tyre work, sparring, sprints, roadwork and sit-ups: a fighter's camp, and about seven kilos of added muscle. Fuqua shot the rounds in long takes with no body double, staged like a TV broadcast with Jim Lampley and Roy Jones Jr. commentating as themselves, and some real shots stayed in the cut. Former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz and Miguel Gómez appear in the film. Boxers will notice Billy's change of style: a brawler who takes everything early on, he learns defence, footwork and the switch to a left-handed stance that gives the film its title.

A hit with audiences, split critics

The film grossed 94.2 million dollars worldwide on a 30 million budget. Critics praised Gyllenhaal but found the script predictable (59% on Rotten Tomatoes, 57 on Metacritic); US audiences gave it an A CinemaScore. In Spain it only reached cinemas in March 2017, as Redención.

Who it's for

For fans of redemption boxing films in the line of Rocky and The Fighter, with fights shot like real rounds.