In The Fire Inside, a teenage girl from a bad home aims to be an Olympian, the first female boxer from the USA to win gold in decades. Unfortunately, the movie mucks with the tried and true underdog sports formula, resulting in a product that hits with lethargic punches.
The pieces are there. The real-life story of Claressa Shields is inspiring, and Ryan Destiny delivers a fierce performance that is sure to go underappreciated. Brian Tyree Henry, who plays her coach and mentor, operates as an effective contrast to her, and the two actors have great chemistry with one another.
But there are so many good to great boxing movies out there that The Fire Inside simply isn’t in the same weight class.
Its biggest problem: it uses all its might in the first few rounds and fades toward the end, like George Foreman at the tale end of Rumble in the Jungle.
The odd decision to place the first gold medal match in the middle of the movie instead of the end simply doesn’t work, even though what comes after is worthy of being put to screen. The examination of what happens to an Olympian—especially a female athlete in a sport that doesn’t garner the same attention as other Olympic sports—makes for compelling drama, but director Rachel Morrison and writer Barry Jenkins bites off more than they can chew.
Or at least they don’t weight things correctly. The story is there, but the third act struggles to find the same urgency and energy as the rest of the movie. Had Morrison and Jenkins changed the dynamic so that even the third act was working toward a bigger climax, The Fire Inside might have ignited.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.