Directed By Rachel Morrison

Starring – Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry, Jazmin Headley

The Plot – A 17-year-old Claressa T-Rex Shields (Destiny), a Flint, Michigan, native whose dreams of becoming the first woman in history to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing were realized at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Shields won a second gold medal in womens middleweight boxing.

Rated PG-13 for some strong adult language, thematic elements, and brief suggestive material.

THE FIRE INSIDE | Official Trailer

POSITIVES

Like the best boxing movies of our time, ‘The Fire Inside’ values who the primary athlete is outside of the ring just as much as it does the dominant force that she is inside of it, and what this does is give valuably unfiltered access into the life of the athlete, long after the glitz and glamour have dried up. ‘Rocky 2’ most notably attempted this, showcasing Balboa as a limited human being outside of the environment where he felt most special, but in the case of Shields, it feels like a scathing inditement on the embarrassing state of women athletics, where lack of funding and sexist press treatment outline the hypocrisies in the very superstars that the machine creates and then nonchalantly spits out. This isn’t the primary focus of the film, as that’s more spent between the overwhelming odds that Claressa overcame to become a national superstar, and the vital dynamic between her and her coach (Played by Brian Tyree Henry) that lacked no form of sacrifice on either of them, but it does give way to a fascinating insight during the third act that makes the audience question why we don’t praise female gold medalists even in the same way we do male runner-ups. It not only uncovers some unsettling realities with what we as a culture expect from female athletes, but beyond that constructs observation into the thought-process of troubled teenagers growing up in both broken homes and cities, where instead of pursuing their dreams, they often settle for lives that none of them want or deserve, as a result of the system that is too difficult to change. Because Claressa was such a dominant athlete inside of the ring, the film isn’t structured as typically as you would expect, which instead of building towards the big Olympic showdown, its climax is really spent on the finishing touches of the character study that has been constantly molded before us, conveying that all her life Shields did things for other people, before finally learning to do them for herself. Outside of the script, the film is a technical marvel eliciting immersive production values to pit us into the polarizing environments of competing on the biggest stage imaginable, with stunning technique that allows the audience as close to feeling every devastating blow without actually getting hurt. The camera work from Morrison and cinematographer Rina Yang effectively manipulate as many long-takes and smoothly cerebral movements in and out of the physical conflicts that appraise commending towards the naturalistic beats of the fight choreography, and with the balance of the echoed distortion of the intricate sound design conveying the thousands of voices in the crowd each chanting to one monumental emphasis, in conjures as closely to tension and pressure as you’re going to get from someone as dominant at her sport as Claressa was and ultimately continues to be. Outside of the ring, the film is also aided tremendously by these beautifully framed shots that you typically don’t see in sports biopics, like those of Claressa squaring off against the neon skyline of China in the background, as well as one of the more eclectic scores of 2024 that transcribed so much depth and versatility to sequences involving Claressa living endlessly throughout her youth, which we come to expect will be fewer and further between than other teens her age. As to where a dependency on hip-hop might feel mind-numbingly obvious to this setting and culture, the production instead deviates away from this trope, with a rich variety of trance, techno, and even acoustics that helped elicit so much personality for the film’s consistency, inspiring a dreamlike glow to the escapism of the character that proves this film wasn’t sleeping on the style that is in contrast to so much thought-provoking substance. Structurally, it’s also able to stay away from a majority of the tropes that we’ve come to expect in two of the most interchangeable genres like sports movies and biopics, which kept the film from feeling predictably bland, even in my limited knowledge of Shields, outside of her Olympic triumphs. For my money, the aforementioned arcs away from the ring are the more compelling and insightful opportunities between the two, and without sensationalizing the drama within a broken home, the script instead utilizes it as the coals to Claressa’s titular burning fire, appraising so much responsibility on the shoulders of a 17-year-old, who has this in the back of her mind while fighting some of the most dangerous athletes that her sport can capably conjure. In only her second feature length turn, Destiny embodies the roller-coaster of emotions that comes with a girl forced to grow up a bit quicker than her peers, with a thorough combination of confidence, determination and resiliency that makes Claressa so effortless to root for as a protagonist, especially knowing what we know about her homelife that is quite literally crumbling at the seams. Brian Tyree Henry is also meaningful towards the film’s integrity, with boldly soulful eyes and meticulous deliveries that entails so much psychology to the regret and advantageous knowledge of his character being an athlete of the sport who walked so Claressa could run. While together, the film utilizes its best moments, whether in the comedic breaking of the ice during the opening act, or the fiery intensity of their suppressed disappointments ringing out during the third, they’re each given ample opportunity to inscribe so much heart, humanity and most importantly vulnerability to their respective portrayals, making them feel like two against the world, especially considering how much each of them sacrificed for the other.

NEGATIVES

There’s nothing serious to scoff at here, but ‘The Fire Inside’ does overcome some growing pains in the materializing of its unorthodox structure, particularly in the editing and supporting subplots, which feel a bit too topical and shallow to feel fully realized in garnering a noteworthy impact to the engagement. While I initially commended the editing of the fight sequences, manipulating long takes as a way of breeding authenticity to physicality, the cuts throughout the rest of the film feel glaringly like they’re missing set-ups for various reveals or deliveries, with a few surprising developments feeling like they’re going through the motions, in terms of noteworthy relevance. While I can wholeheartedly understand that this is Claressa’s movie, first and foremost, more time spent to the vital pieces surrounding her would’ve been appreciated, as I don’t think we ever truly get the complete picture of the dire circumstances of an inconsistent mother figure, who one day feels worthless, and the next feels like she’s turned the corner without notice, or the intentions of an outsider father, who seemingly comes back into Claressa’s life at just the moment she becomes a success, but without any kind of confrontation that could cement feelings one way or the other about his appearance. Outside of Claressa’s story, there’s so many compelling subplots that deserve the attention that they unfortunately never got, and I think a full two hour movie could’ve fixed those problems without sacrificing audience investment. My only other issue with the film stemmed from some of the accommodating dialogue of said supporting characters, who come to feel like nothing more than exposition machines that fill in the gaps during some abrupt transitions forward in the script. I can certainly understand keeping the audience informed at what we might’ve missed along the way, but there’s definitely more natural methods than characters who talk to each other really sound like they’re talking directly at the audience, and to me it just felt like the first draft of a script that definitely could’ve used another rewrite to keep the supporting dialogue from feeling so wooden and manufactured.

OVERALL
‘The Fire Inside’ stands tall and hits hard as an inspiring and even thought-provoking biopic that outlines the inferiorities and hypocrisies within women’s sports and its grandest trailblazers. With depiction towards a somberly sobering reality that sets in after the glitz and glamour die down, enacting two powerhouse performances from Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry, the film takes advantage of those dark and devastating corridors away from the action, where most sports biopics refuse to exploit, and despite stumbling in articulating supporting subplots or abrupt edits in timely transitions, Morrison goes the distance with palpable emotionality that never withers, serving as the spark to Claressa’s flame that hasn’t gone out throughout a career of trailblazing triumphs.

My Grade: 8/10 or B+