'The Fire Inside' Review: Boxing biopic rolls with the punches, stays true to its subject
Rachel Morrison's feature debut tackles the story of Flint boxer Claressa Shields, an advocate for equal pay for Olympic athletes, in a story more inspirational than its familiar structure suggests
By pure happenstance, I attended college less than an hour away from Flint, Michigan while boxer Claressa Shields was busy earning her first Olympic gold medal in the women’s middleweight division at the 2012 Olympics. While I was finding my footing at college, Shields was making a name for herself as the youngest boxer at the February 2012 U.S. Olympic trials, qualified for the 2012 Games in the first year women’s boxing was an Olympic event, and went on to become the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing–all before graduating high school.
It’s an incredible feat, especially considering the spiral that Shields was sent down upon winning the gold, feeling depleted from her lack of endorsements compared to her Olympic counterparts and battling a difficult home life. However, like many great stories of perseverance, Shields faced her struggles head-on to become the first American boxer to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016. This treasure trove of accomplishments make Shields a worthy subject for a sports biopic, yet Rachel Morrison’s The Fire Inside (2024) works from an all-too familiar archetype in telling her story, only to succumb to a second act that sluggishly struggles to find its footing when tapping into Shields’ post-win defeat.
Portrayed by relatively newcomer Ryan Destiny, Shields has a fierce tenacity that plays into her strengths as a boxer, always determined to take on a challenge even when the odds are stacked against her. However, it’s through the mentorship of her coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry) that she’s able to gain confidence and discipline. Through regular training, she finds the fire inside her (no pun intended) to push forward into her Olympic matchups. At home, her mother Jackie (Olunike Adeliyi) struggles to find a balance between her social life and being a reliable parent to Claressa and her two siblings. As Claressa feels a growing necessity to pick up the slack around the house, the pressure is on her more than ever to fill the void left by her mother and imprisoned father.
From a performance perspective, Destiny and Henry’s trainee/trainer relationship helps give the film a strong sense of personality. The pair are always in sync both as actors and characters, finding ways to navigate the ups and downs that come with such an insurmountable goal. Henry, especially, finds the perfect note as a mentor, certifying himself as one of the most reliable character actors in Hollywood, blending encouragement with no-nonsense determination.
The only real detriment that The Fire Inside suffers from is the familiarity of its screenplay structure. The first two-thirds of the film, for the most part, is pretty easy to see where it’s heading because it stands in the shadow of many other sports biopic films–something you’d expect Moonlight (2016) screenwriter Barry Jenkins to be more aware of with a history of such subversive scripts in the past. However, just as you expect the film to begin wrapping up, the film delves into its final third, to which the film has trouble budgeting its time. The final third is ultimately necessary to showcase Shields’ advocacy for Olympic athletes making the same amount of money, but the film’s commitment to formula provides an expectation for the rest of the film, ultimately making the last third more of a chore to endure. A stronger structure would help to alleviate this, but regardless, the majority of The Fire Inside operates smoothly enough that I can’t judge it too harshly.
On the whole, The Fire Inside’s strong performances, well-choreographed fight scenes, and uplifting story of perseverance ultimately give it enough personality to shine through some of its lackluster issues. Though we’ve come to expect more from Jenkins as a screenwriter, the structure is only one element of the whole experience, while everything else is just efficient enough to justify its existence.
B-
Feature image credit to MGM via Variety
