Pete’s Dragon (2016)

More than anything, Pete’s Dragon reminded me how much I’m going to miss Robert Redford after he’s gone. The man’s a national treasure. The movie itself was ok.

Rating: C-

Southpaw (2015)

As a viewer, I feel like I’m supposed to like and root for Jake Gyllenhaal’s character. However, he’s such an asshole, I can’t help but feel he’s getting what he deserves.

And then there’s the matter of no police investigation after his wife is murdered. The cops asked him a few questions and called it a day.

The movie is kind of a downer. I found his relationship with his daughter, especially in the aftermath of the shooting, to be annoying. Even his comeback training was depressing.

He supposedly went undefeated and defended the belt multiple times, and he’s only now learning defense? Didn’t make sense.  Later he struggles through a charity exhibition fight against a nobody. He was an undefeated world title holder for crying out loud.

Some kid named Hoppy who had 2 minutes of screen time gets killed off screen and we are supposed to get emotional about it? No. The film is sloppily put together with unlikable charters doing things that don’t make sense. The whole project was mishandled by Fuqua.

Rating: D-