The Fire Inside
This true-life boxing tale is one of 2024's best.
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Cinematographer Rachel Morrison has shot some of the best and most impactful black movies of the past decade-plus. She lensed Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station” and “Black Panther,” Rick Famuyiwa’s “Dope” and Dee Rees’ “Mudbound,” for which she became the first woman nominated for Best Cinematography.
Claressa “T-Rex” Shields is a female boxer from Flint, Mich. that I was heretofore unaware of and really should’ve been. She won gold medals in the women’s middleweight division at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, making her the first American fighter to win back-to-back Olympic medals. Shields is also one of only four boxers in history – man or woman – to hold all four major world titles in boxing – World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization, in two separate weight classes.
Morrison has made a splashy directorial debut with “The Fire Inside” (now in theaters), which chronicles the struggles Shields (played by the immensely talented Ryan Destiny) withstood in order to achieve success within the ring.
Shields began boxing at the age of 11 (with Jazmin Headley playing Young Claressa) under the tutelage of her coach Jason Crutchfield (the reliably excellent Brian Tyree Henry … no exception here). He initially had trepidations about training a girl, but quickly saw promise in his protégé.
The deck is stacked against Shields. Her mother Jackie (Olunike Adeliyi) drinks too much and has men coming and going – one of whom sexually abused Shields. Her father Clarence (Adam Clark) has spent the majority of her life in prison.
Crutchfield, who works as a cable technician in addition to coaching, takes a more active role in Shields’ life by inviting her to live with he, his wife Mickey (De’Adre Aziza) and their children becoming a surrogate father of sorts to her.
The more successful Shields is in the ring the more glaring the absence of fortune and fame becomes … especially in stark contrast to fellow Olympian Michael Phelps. Shields has a gold medal, but she doesn’t have two nickels to rub together or a pot to piss in nor a window to throw it from so she begins fighting for more equitable conditions for herself and her fellow female athletes of color.
Morrison has made an incredibly assured first feature with a sharp script from the esteemed Barry Jenkins (the “Moonlight” filmmaker also currently has “Mufasa: The Lion King” out in theaters).
It’s propelled by the impressive central performances of Destiny and Henry and the palpable chemistry they share. Destiny is just so damned likable and lovely on screen. It’s fair to assume she’s destined for a long and fruitful career. Henry is already a proven commodity who’s never less than captivating. I’d have absolutely no problem with either of them deservedly getting acting nods this awards season.
The flick isn’t too fight-centric, but the ones we get have an immediacy, intensity and intimacy to them thanks to the cinematography of Rina Yang, the editing of Harry Yoon and the impressive efforts of the fight and stunt coordinators and performers. (Assistant fight/boxing coordinator Torrey Vogel and I worked together at the Purdue Memorial Union when we were in high school. Good guy!)
“The Fire Inside” inspired me, pissed me off and then inspired me all over again. I laughed a little and cried a lot. It’s one of the better movies of 2024.