Film Review: The Fire Inside

By Dwight Brown
Film Critic
★ ★ ★  (3 Stars)

“What do you think about girls boxing,” says coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry). His wife Mickey (De’Adre Aziza) calmly replies, “Don’t see no reason why she can’t. She got hands.”

As a young girl in Flint, Michigan, Claressa Shields keeps stopping by Crutchfield’s boxing gym. Since female pugilists are frowned upon, she can only do exercises and shadow boxing. No stepping into the ring. That’s banned. Years go by, and Claressa gains entrance. She boxes opponents and beats boys’ asses. She’s grown into a young woman (Ryan Destiny) who can bob and weave, throw heavy right crosses and go where girls have never gone before. To the top. How good is she? So good she earns a tryout for the Olympics at age 15 and is destined to compete for a medal in the 2012 games. The rest is history.   

Telling Shields breakthrough story has been a dream of director/writer/producer Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) for almost a decade. His based-on-fact script became the blueprint that cinematographer Rachel Morrison (Black Panther, Mudbound) used to mark her feature film directing debut. Visually, with the help of cinematographer Rina Yang (Nanny), she captures the drama in Shields family that includes a reckless mother (Olunike Adeliyi), needy young siblings and a father (Adam Clark) who was out of the picture for various reasons. Until he isn’t.

Morrison shows a gift for guiding the main and supporting actors. Nothing seems fake. Not the emotions, upheavals or triumphs. The script puts plenty of hurdles in Shields way, and every problem she conquers seems hard fought.

For viewers, the chance to see how athletes train and compete for the Olympics makes this film an eye opener. It’s even more engaging because females are active in a sport that’s dominated by men – for centuries. All the stress, determination and triumph it takes to win – at the highest levels – is on view. For young girls wondering how pioneers paved the way and what it takes to become a worldwide champion, there’s a road map. Also included is the harsh reality of not making a living from the sport and other hard truths. This well-written sports narrative doesn’t miss a beat and peaks in a third act that is as vital as the first.

Bryan Tyree Henry is Shields’ surrogate father. Nurturing, questioning his inabilities and growing as a person. Ryan Destiny plays the real-life protagonist audiences will admire and is supported by the other young actresses who play Shields in her earlier years (Jazmin Headley, Kylee D. Allen). She exhibits a feisty nature that likely propelled the real boxing champ from inner city Flint to world stages. Idrissa Sanogo and Taytem Douglas portray her love interest Lil’ Zay, as a teenager and a kid respectively. Both show young impressionable Black males how they can be supportive to Black women, and still be manly. Something audiences don’t see enough of in films these days.

There are countless sports hero movies out there. This one distinguishes itself by being about a girl who became a woman, a bread winner and a Gold Medal world boxing champ. Jenkins and Morrison have crafted more than just another story about a gifted athlete. They’ve created a bio that’s a handbook for female athletes looking to excel.