Ryan McNeil
What happens if winning isn’t enough?
If one dedicates their entire life to rising above their station – If they put aside all frivolities, all distractions, all luxuries to be the best in the world… things might be better, right?
THE FIRE INSIDE is the directorial debut by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison. The camerawoman behind modern gems like BLACK PANTHER, FRUITVALE STATION, and MUDBOUND slides over into the drivers seat to tell the tale of Claressa Shields.
Shields (Ryan Destiny) – a native of Flint, Michigan – chased her dreams of being a boxer from an early age, even if that wasn’t what other girls around her dreamt of doing. After training for several years with volunteer coach Jason Crutchfield (Bryan Tyree Henry), Shields would rise quickly through the ranks, eventually representing USA in the 2012 Olympics in London.
THE FIRE INSIDE isn’t “just another boxing movie”. It’s less interested in what happens during the fight as it is what happens in the gym, in the locker room, and inside the mind of the boxer herself.
It wants us to understand the way a boxer doesn’t just carry the weight on her frame…but also the weight of her own ambitions, her family’s options, her hometown’s pride.
It’s also interested in what happens after the fight is over – when the match has been decided and the fighters go back home. What happens if nothing changes, and all that hard work is just rewarded by more hard work?
This is where the storytelling of Morrison and screenwriter Barry Jenkins really sings, and where the acting by Destiny and Tyree Henry truly lifts. It’s in these moments that the film explores the rewards (or lack thereof) for an athlete of Shields’ class, gender, and even chosen sport.
To put it bluntly – it’s not enough to achieve your dreams if you immediately have to wake back up.
THE FIRE INSIDE is inspiring, unexpected, and a worthy telling of a multifaceted story. It’s a tale of fight and family, and even sometimes fighting with your family.
It’s a film that will push us to be our best, while also encouraging us to remember that we will need to remain our best well after the final bell is heard