The Fire Inside

6.6 - The style, structure, writing are cliché “feel good sports story.” There’s a training montage, a coach athlete argument, a returned figure from the past, & even a looking out a bus window shot.

But I like those stories generally, & Claressa Shields is absolutely a name a lot more people should know. She did a lot to change perception around, & procedure in, women’s sports.

Brian Tyree Henry is one of my favorite actors & he carries a lot of this movie for me, but Ryan Destiny absolutely holds her own as Ressa.

My biggest issue keeping this from being GREAT is that most of the key moments failed to pack the emotional punch they needed. They all just kind of settle without a lot of fanfare or time to breathe. It may have been intentional, to show her as more than just a fighter, but I think it cheapened some of her overall journey. Maybe a stronger score or a little more time on these milestones would have helped.

All in all, if feel-good sports, or overcoming odds dramas are your thing, you’ll love this.

“She ain’t never seen nothing like you.”

Had potential, but I felt like it ended and showed us her triumphant story, but was disappointed that we didn’t get that during the film. It just felt like it missed the mark.

“She ain’t never seen nothing like you.”

Had potential, but I felt like it ended and showed us her triumphant story, but was disappointed that we didn’t get that during the film. It just felt like it missed the mark.

The movie begins as a boxing bio, but it finished as a tragic story of the unfair world of sports for women’s pay. it’s not a bad film, but it feels like every other biopic underdog story I’ve seen. It just doesn’t have enough interesting plot lines to set it apart from others.