The Fire Inside review: Claressa Shields biopic is a winning story, but just short of a knockout

We all know the formula for a sports movie by now. A scrappy underdog with a chip on their shoulder overcomes incredible odds with the help of a dedicated coach to win the big title. That’s not a criticism, it’s a formula that works time and time again to leave audiences with a good feeling. But what makes The Fire Inside unique is that its story doesn’t stop with that winning moment, instead showing how winning is not necessarily a cure for all of life’s problems.

The Fire Inside is based on the life of Claressa Shields, who as a 17-year-old won the Olympic gold medal in boxing at the 2012 games. Shields did so overcoming poverty and a troubled childhood in Flint, Michigan. But even after her Olympic glory, she found she had to take up a new fight as life’s struggles — primarily the lack of financial opportunity for a female athlete in a male-centric sport — continued to land its punches.

Starring the excellent pair of Ryan Destiny as Shields and Brian Tyree Henry as her coach, Jason Crutchfield, the movie serves as the feature directorial debut for Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison and features a script written by Barry Jenkins. That creative team hits all of the right notes to give The Fire Inside a good bit more depth than its peers, resulting in a winning story, but the athletic moments are a bit muted, placing it in the good, just shy of great, tier.

The first half of the movie is all about Shields’ efforts to make the 2012 Olympics and take home the gold. There’s plenty in that for a full movie, and some filmmakers would have likely been content to just end the story as she stands on top of the podium victorious. But The Fire Inside’s greatest strength is that it follows up and sees Shields after the Olympics, when she hasn’t gotten any endorsements and struggles to pay the bills and achieve the better life she thought would be coming her way. Though female athletes today have become household names, even just 12 years ago Shields was emblematic of their struggles for fair compensation. Her fight to get what she’s believed she’s earned is even more inspirational to watch than her fights in the ring.

A lot of that has to do Ryan Destiny, who gives one of the breakout performances of the year. She is every bit believable as the Flint tough boxer, but she’s even better when she is fighting for her future outside of the ring. Destiny goes toe-to-toe with the Oscar-nominated Henry, who gives another strong performance as Shields’ coach. The pair carry the movie, with their interactions, and occasional verbal bouts, the most engaging thing to watch.

Part of that is because the boxing scenes aren’t anything to write home about. Morrison makes a fine debut as a director after years as a cinematographer, but considering her past work I was a bit surprised that the boxing scenes weren’t as engaging as I might have hoped. Now part of the problem is that Olympic boxing is a bit different than what we’re used to seeing on screen, and it’s not as fun trying to figure out how to root for points instead of a knockout.

But even if the boxing scenes were a bit of a let down, the script by Barry Jenkins more than makes up for it, providing a depth of story and characters. I’ve already talked about how the movie effectively manages to go beyond the easy ending of winning gold, but Jenkins also deserves credit for creating realistic characters in Shields’ parents. Shields’ mother Jackie (Olunike Adeliyi) struggles to provide for her family, occasionally neglectful, while her father Clarence (Adam Clark) has been in jail for much of her child. The movie acknowledges these facts, but it also doesn’t limit its depictions of Jackie and Clarence as merely obstacles or antagonists for Claressa to overcome, as some lazier scripts might do. Instead, they are real people who have had (and continue to have) their struggles, but who also do their best to support Claressa as they can.

All that being said, The Fire Inside feels like it’s teetering on the edge of greatness, but ultimately falls just a little short. But that’s alright, this is still a winning sports drama that you’d be hard pressed not to enjoy and ultimately be moved by. It’ll get you cheering for sure.

The Fire Inside releases exclusively in movie theaters on December 25 in the US; it premieres February 7 in the UK.