O Fogo Interior

The true story of Claressa Shields, a high school junior from Flint, Michigan, who became the first American woman to win Olympic boxing gold, only to discover that not all dreams are equal and the real fight has just begun.

Ryan Destiny plays Shields, a young girl who decides she wants to box, and Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry) a local volunteer who helps kids train, and takes her under his wing. Under his tutelage Claressa wins an olympic gold medal, only to find that it doesn't mean what she thinks it means so she takes it to a pawnshop as it's value is meaningless to her.

This is a story of the true face of becoming an olympic athlete: the sacrifices that have to be made, the hardship along the way, and the rewards that sometimes don't match the effort.

The cast is strong, the writing and direction is great, the film feels like an exercise in positive motivation. But it's a film of dedication and commitment and almost brought me to tears at times.

A story beautifully told, I gave it a solid 7.

Honestly, I feel ashamed that I've never heard of Claressa Shields. How does she win two back to back and not become a household name? Yet, the runners, gymnastics, and swimmers easily do. This just proves women have a long way to go, because if this was a man I'm sure it would be different. Than again, I couldn't tell you a single successful Olympic boxer. Maybe I'm just completly in the dark about a number of sports. Whatever it is, this movie pointed out a real problem that's out there.

As far as a sports movie goes, this one is interesting in the fact it's not a lead up for her to win gold, instead that's just the half way point. This is more about the struggle of what came after for Claressa after becoming a world champion. It was sad and disgraceful.

I loved this movie a lot, it's worth your time and is beautifully done. The acting of Ryan Destiny and Brian Henry is phenomenal!

This was AMC Screen Unseen on December 16th. A wonderful suprise for my first screen unseen.

I'm a week and three days late seeing this sports biopic, so I contemplated whether I should write a proper review. However, I noticed that only 19 people had reviewed this film on IMDb at the time of writing, which isn't even mentioning its $2M US box office opening. I know a weak opening weekend doesn't mean a film will flop. Look at the recently released "Mufasa: The Lion King" for proof. With that in mind, I want to write a review to encourage you to see it. Sure, this Christmas movie season was competitive, to say the least, with Mufasa, "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," and "Nosferatu" being the three top players. Admittedly, for the latter two films, it's easy to see those instead, so I'll recommend this with a bit of an unfortunate caveat: after you see both Sonic and "Nosferatu," see "The Fire Inside."

I want to start with the only semi-negative before fully praising everything else about this film. I won't give any spoilers, but a scene towards the end dares to ruin the film's momentum.

Okay, so let's begin the positives with the acting. Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry deliver potent performances as real-life female boxer Claressa Shields and her trainer Jason Crutchfield. Their dynamic and interactions are the emotional centerpiece of the entire experience, and it works! I've seen and enjoyed Henry in other films, so I knew he'd be entertaining playing Crutchfield. This film seems to be Destiny's first major release, which means we'll see more of her in the following years if her performance as Shields is any indication.

Next, for a directorial debut, Rachel Morrison impresses. Morrison's work enhances the film's dramatic undertones and makes the boxing sequences more compelling and gripping than they have any right to be. It helps that she is bringing to life a stellar Barry Jenkins screenplay.

I'm still avoiding spoilers, so I'll be vague for the following compliment. Although this is a true story, I appreciated how based in reality this film is. I specifically respected how they showcased the indirect prejudice against female athletes in other aspects of the industry, portraying how boxing may be more than the sport itself.

Rapid time progression is a biopic staple. In my review of "A Complete Unknown," I stated how I'm starting to take issue with that. After watching "The Fire Inside," I now believe that issue was exclusive to that Bob Dylan biopic that I still think is good. I felt that that film didn't handle time progression well, with it unexpectedly skipping over periods with no indication of when, making characters feel inconsistent with how they were minutes or, in some cases, seconds earlier. "The Fire Inside" makes it obvious when time skips, even if one transition is somewhat subtle, and the characters remain consistent.

Overall, I knew that I'd love "The Fire Inside." I was looking forward to it, but life is life, so I had to wait a while. I can comfortably say it was worth the wait, and I highly encourage you to check it out before it leaves theaters. Once it goes to streaming, it'll be an undeniable hit, but this movie deserves to be successful. If I couldn't save "Saturday Night" or "Werewolves," the least I can do is give "The Fire Inside" a fighting chance. I know I'm one reviewer, but that can be all the difference.

Technically, the acting, directing, screenplay, and well-utilized runtime make the technical score a 10/10.

For the enjoyment score, this film never bored me, had many funny moments, and Claressa Shields was a captivating lead character. Brian Tyree Henry was just as great, the boxing scenes were stellar, and the time progression wasn't annoying. This film deserves a 10/10 enjoyment score. Please don't let down this champ!

We had not heard of this movie but took a chance on it. We were very pleasantly surprised! From the very start to the end it kept your attention and brought tears to your eyes several times.

This movie was cast really well and the acting was superb. The story is amazing and was an excellent depiction of what life in poverty can be like.

The struggles she overcame by channeling her anger and her coach's dedication.

Love that this is an actual true story as it's so inspiring!! Also like that there's no nudity so this is one the entire family can see together.

Would highly recommend this movie.

I'm not sure how much of this movie is factual and how much is fictionalized for dramatic effect, but I found it to be impactful. I don't follow boxing, so I wasn't familiar with this athlete previously. The story is multi-faceted, following not just her journey as an athlete, but also focusing on the relationships she has with her family and her coach. It's incredible what she overcame, and even more incredible that she hardly got any recognition for it, even after winning the olympic gold. This movie shows the obstacles women face in sports considered "men's sports". It was saddening to see that the medal was meaningless in her personal life for so long (this does eventually change, with a LOT of time). This movie also portrays the struggles of growing up in a toxic household. One thing that did bother me was that Claressa (in the movie) chose to stand by her family repeatedly despite the fact that she was clearly abused. Her real life relationships with them may have been much more nuanced, but in the movie, all we really see is neglect until the very last portion of the movie, where there is more understanding and love. To me it felt like she was throwing away her chance at a better life to support her abusers. Note this is just my perception, which may be biased wrongly. Overall, I think that this is an important movie to see - one that deals with gender inequality, gender norms, poverty, trauma, neglect, and grit.