In his The Fire Inside film review, Kevin Bourne says it is “an almost two-hour pep talk about the power of hard work and determination.”
2024 is the year for sports movies at the Toronto International Film Festival. We have Rez Ball about a Navajo Nation high school basketball team who face tragedy and loss on their way to the national championship. We have the wrestling film Unstoppable about a real life NCAA wrestler who must overcome being born with one leg along his journey to national champion.
Then there’s The Fire Inside, a biopic about the meteoric rise of Olympic and pro boxing champion, Claressa ‘T-Rex’ Shields. Directed by Rachel Morrison and starring Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry, and Canadians, Idrissa Sanogo and Olunike Adeliyi, the film opens with Shields’ tough upbringing in Flint, Michigan, her introduction to her coach Jason Crutchfield and boxing, and her gold medal win at just 17 years old. What’s impressive is that biopics are usually reserved for people who are retired or passed away. The fact that Shields has a biopic when she’s still in her prime years shows how special of a talent she is.
If there were a word to describe this film, it would be “gritty”; like Rocky 1 or like Creed 1. The Fire Inside is a love letter to Flint in the same way Rocky was a love letter to Philadelphia. The landscapes are similarly dark, grim, and working class, and in stark contrast to the bright lights of China, showing how far boxing has taken Shields.
Some may question the casting of Ryan Destiny in the lead role of such a gritty film where the principal character, Claressa Shields, boasts about enjoying beating people up. Although Destiny is small in stature compared to Shields, and is a star who looks more like a model than a pro boxer, she more than delivered in this role. Being a Michigan native from nearby Detroit, Destiny did an excellent job portraying the scrappy, no-nonsense, underdog.
Brian Tyree Henry was the ying to her yang, in his nomination worthy portrayal of her patient and fatherly coach. The pair’s father-daughter chemistry onscreen is magical. Meanwhile, Olunike Adeliyi impressed in her portrayal of Shields’ mother, showing a range of emotions as the character grew and evolved.
Of course, a sports movie wouldn’t be a sports movie without action scenes. The fight sequences in this are well shot and choreographed. But this is more than just a sports movie. Similar to the other sports films screened at TIFF 24, there’s a deeper message here. It’s also a social commentary on pay equity in sports, highlighting Shields’ advocacy for women in sports and the double standards she faced as a Black athlete in a sport that is seen by some as violent. Shields is seen as a trailblazer who had battles to fight outside of the ring.
Whether you’re a man, woman, young or old, this equal parts sports film and social commentary is an almost two-hour pep talk about the power of hard work and determination.
Kevin Bourne is SHIFTER’s Toronto-based editor and Senior Entertainment Reporter focusing on Black music and film & TV. He was named one of 300 international voters for the 81st and 82nd Golden Globe Awards by the Golden Globe Foundation and a Tomatometer-Approved Critic by Rotten Tomatoes.
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