Claressa Shields is a two-time gold medalist and currently the undisputed middleweight champion of the world. Now, she rightfully gets her story told on screen.
The film opens with her as a young girl interested in the sport of boxing and finding an outlet at a small gym in her home town of Flint, Michigan. After she begins a bit of training, the gym’s coach, Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry) sees her potential and starts preparing her to begin an amateur career.
The movie then picks up with an older Shields (Ryan Destiny) who has some wins under her belt and is now aiming for a bigger prize: the 2012 Olympics in London. As the movie shows, Shields has the talent to go the distance, but there are other roadblocks standing in her way to success.
Shields’ amateur and professional boxing careers are definitely impressive and inspiring. To its credit, “The Fire Inside” does capture both of these aspects, showing her overcome several odds to reach remarkable success. However, it’s a film that frustratingly leaves a viewer cinematically unsatisfied.
The big issue is how the film decides to structure its plot, and the pacing in telling the story. Just over half of the picture is treated as a sort of traditional underdog sports film. Shields finds a sport she loves in boxing, secures some initial victories, learns under a charismatic coach, has a setback and then ultimately goes on to win the big event.
Then the movie keeps going for quite a while. The last 40 percent of the movie or so follows Shields back home after the 2012 Olympics. She’s a gold medalist but back to living in poverty, she has trouble getting endorsement deals, her family life is difficult and overall, she’s struggling.
This too is a good set-up for a sports-related drama. In fact, it’s rather reminiscent of “Rocky II.” The problem is the film doesn’t really have as much time to dedicate fully to this section of Shields’ story because it had spent the last hour and change as an inspiring sports tale. It also doesn’t help that the struggle is portrayed in somewhat of a meandering, rudderless way.
It makes one wish the film had adjusted what time period of Shields’ life it followed. Had the movie opened with her earning the 2012 gold medal, and had an ensuing drama fully about how athletes with less coverage tend to struggle financially, especially a woman who lives in poverty, it could have been a compelling picture that was more structurally sound.
On top of giving more time to her fight for better pay and a romance that feels underdeveloped here and allowing for better pacing, it could have still been a traditional sports film. Just have the montages lead up to 2016 instead of 2012.
Director Rachel Morrison and writer Barry Jenkins of course had a vision for this picture and one can respect that, but the way the film plays out just feels off. There are also a few moments of dialogue that seem too Hollywood, in that the conversations come across as simplified for the sake of the audience.
This is noticeable especially with some of the side characters who are simply too one dimensional. For example, Shields has another coach from USA Boxing at the Olympics who Claressa butts heads with, mainly because the film chose to show she was frustrated with not having Jason ringside.
The problem is this coach also worked with Shields a lot and was trying to help her, and yet we as the audience barely get to know her at all. This is true with some of the other supporting characters too. As a result, the film is lacking a more nuanced, well-rounded portrayal of the athlete.
The main characters are, fortunately, still quite good at least. Destiny is starring in her third film role and she is good at capturing Shields’ attitude and drive.
Brian Tyree Henry, meanwhile, is great as the mentor who is most able to connect with the person he’s training. Henry has appeared in plenty of blockbusters over the last several years, but there’s no doubt he shines the most in grounded dramas like this.
Visually, the film is all right. Flint is well shot, capturing the cold, stark and rough environment Shields comes from. It adds to her character as a fighter. The actual boxing scenes are less memorable, especially compared to other recent movies showcasing the sport such as “Southpaw” or the “Creed” series.
“The Fire Inside” has some positives but is also a film that frustrates. There are moments of inspiration and its two main characters are compelling, but the layout with how things unfold, some lackluster dialogue and how it treats its side characters prevents a knock-out. 2.8 out of 5.
Matthew Liedke on Film 