The Fire Inside
When a young girl (Jazmin Headley) slips into Flint, Michigan's Berston Field House wanting to box, local volunteer coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry) tells her 'we don't train no girls,' but Claressa Shields' persistence and passion convince him. Six years later, he'll be training 'Ressa (now Ryan Destiny) to go to London to try for the first Olympics women's boxing title. Jason knows Shields has "The Fire Inside."
Laura's Review: C+
"Black Panther" cinematographer Rachel Morrison makes her directorial debut with a film that sounds like it's about the first female Olympic boxing gold medalist, but is really about the cold shoulder she receives from the commercial endorsement world after she wins. We're told a lot of that is because of her rough exterior, a woman who says outright that she likes to beat people up, but while writer Barry Jenkins ("Moonlight") gives us the roots of that anger within her dysfunctional family life, he also wants to have it both ways, Claressa defying her mother Jackie (Olunike Adeliyi) only to have them turn around and present a united front, a further embrace extended to the father who left when he returns, presumably to get a piece of the Olympics pie. Things get even stranger when Claressa turns on her coach, blaming the unpaid volunteer, her champion, for not negotiating lucrative contracts for her. This is a central character who is difficult to root for. Bryan Tyree is this film's emotional heart.
The film starts off well enough, introducing us to a little girl who tries to take care of her younger siblings Bri (Nendia Lewars, Shechinah Mpumlwana) and Peanut (Chidubem Rafael Echendu, Sekhai Smith), who often don't have enough to eat. Their mother likes to party. So that 'fire inside' is let loose in the boxing ring, Claressa channeling her anger under the tutelage of Jason, and finding respite with sparring partner Lil' Zay (Idrissa Sanogo Bamba) who eventually becomes something more, at least until Jason rules 'no dating at the gym.' When Jackie throws her daughter out of the house, Jason and his wife, who becomes more of a mother to the girl than Jackie ever was, take her in.
But Claressa will lose her support structure when she is confronted by the rules and regulations of the Olympic Committee. Nicole Thompson (Sarah Allen) of USA Boxing informs her Jason is not a sanctioned coach and because of his own family finances, he cannot accompany her to China for Olympic tryouts. The young woman dubbed 'T-Rex' because of her short arms will be flummoxed by the directions of Coach Parker (Lanette Ware) and barely make it onto the Olympic team, seeded last. Jason will accompany her to London, but why he needs to tell her to leave her family, an obvious distraction, at home is puzzling. While Parker continues to be her official coach, Thompson, witting with Crutchfield, will see her struggling and get him onto the floor where Claressa can at least see him signaling and even though the 17 year-old is facing the same 33 year-old Russian who beat her in China, emerges triumphant. But the expected victory parade back home never appears, Claressa resorting to setting up a stand at a local mall to sell photographs and signatures.
Cinematographer Rina Yang ("Nanny") puts us into the ring, those jabs flying towards her lens, but Morrison makes a lot of predictable choices with a training montage followed by various scenes back home where Flint family and friends watch her bout on TV. The film is choppy as well, often lurching from one event to the next. The last act whitewashing of Claressa's parents makes little sense within the context presented here. "The Fire Inside" failed to light mine.
Robin's Review: B+
In Flint Michigan, 17-year old Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (Ryan Destiny) worked hard to achieve her dream: become the first female boxer to win the Olympic gold. That dream became reality in 2012 and, again, in 2026, but at a price for the young athlete, in “The Fire Inside.”
If you look up Claressa Shields, you will find that, beyond her amazing gold medal wins at two Olympics, she has an incredible career as a multiple world champion in women’s professional boxing. But, that career, “The Fire Inside“ shows, was hard fought for a young black woman trying to break into amateur boxing, a man’s sport, and go to the Olympics.
Instead of a rags to riches story showing Claressa’s rise to success and the gold, we see a much tougher life for a young woman who has to meet others’ standard of decorum. With her pending trip to the 2012 Olympics, she is advised, by her handlers, to not be such a “bully.” Her response (and my thought) is, “I’m a boxer, I am a bully.” It is a double standard that the male boxers do not suffer.
Ryan Destiny plays Claressa with a level of anger that shows that she has earned everything she has done in her life but still is treated as a second class athlete. The two young actors playing Claressa’s younger self, Jazmin Headley and Kylee D. Allen are well cast. Bryan Tyree Henry does a solid job as the young woman’s trainer, Jason Crutchfieid, who stands by her all the way, even when the rules keep him from coaching her in the Olympics.
Claressa’s life and her accomplishments deserve big screen treatment. Here, it is Rachel Morrison at the helm with Barry Jenkins as scribe telling the young woman’s incredible life story. The boxing has a genuine feel with the intensity of the ring action coming through.
Amazon/MGM releases "The Fire Inside" (formerly "Flint Strong") in theaters on 12/25/24.
