Sports films and biopics (boxing ones in particular) tend to follow a specific formula — overcoming the odds. After all, there’s little drama or inspiration in watching a guaranteed winner crush all the competition as predicted. Unless those films get a sequel, though, we rarely get to see what happens when the applause goes away and the prize is won. In her directorial debut, The Fire Inside, Rachel Morrison tells the real-life story of Claressa Shields, the only boxer to win back-to-back gold medals and one of four boxers in history to hold all four major titles.
Shields’ story is even more inspiring because of the tough home life in Flint, Michigan she had to overcome to achieve glory. However, what does glory really look like, and what happens after achieving it? That’s the haunting reality this film explores which makes it a little different from other sports biopics (though it’s identical to many of them in other regards). There are versions of The Fire Inside that would have stopped at the story’s apex, wanting to send everyone home happy, but Morrison goes further, making a much better film in the process.
Morrison and screenwriter Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) make the smart choice to go beyond the accolades and parades to pull back the curtain and show the many instances of inequality and pressure Shields endured on her journey. This allows Ryan Destiny’s terrific, brittle, and fiery performance as Shields to take on many forms and layers beyond the standard underdog motif these athlete-focused films tend to focus on.
A Sports Story That Goes Beyond the Celebrations
Right from the beginning, The Fire Inside shows that Claressa Shields has the cards stacked against her. At the age of 11, she has two younger siblings she has to care for; her mother is going through her own difficulties. This is when Shields shows up to the Berston Field House ready to box and take out her frustrations despite the trepidation of volunteer trainer and former boxer Jason Crutchfield (with a delightful and warm performance by Brian Tyree Henry).
When he drops his guard down about training a girl in boxing, Jason sees Shields has that special something that will make her great one day. There’s both a figurative and literal hunger to her; as food and necessities for her family become more scarce and their situation more dire, Shields’ fight is practically for survival.
Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry Both Elevate the Stakes of the Story
With this shared understanding of one another, Crutchfield and Shields form a bond of coach and student, eventually a kind of metaphorical father and daughter. Morrison gives Destiny and Tyree Henry enough space to develop their characters outside their scenes together, which makes the moments when they do interact that much better. In certain scenes, you see how difficult things are from Shields’ perspective and understand why she wants to fight so hard. With Crutchfield, the audience is given time with his own family, and you get why Shields would look up to him.
When they end up together, there’s a yin-yang synergy to what they provide one another. Through Shields’ talent, Crutchfield can see possibilities outside of Flint. His coaching allows Shields to pinpoint her anger and transform it into better boxing (which will prove helpful in avenging her only loss later down the road). While this tough-love relationship between athlete and trainer is derivative of most sports films (Rocky, Million Dollar Baby), the performances keep it from being predictable and full.
As for the in-ring action, Morrison utilizes her previous work as a cinematographer (Black Panther, Mudbound) to deliver detailed fight scenes. It’s not as brutal as in other boxing films, but there is an intimacy to how the Olympic fights are choreographed and framed that makes it seem much more emotional and personal than usual sports action, while still evoking the competition’s ferocity.
What Happens After the Big Win Is What Matters
Where The Fire Inside takes a turn to differentiate itself from the field is what happened after the 2012 London Olympics. A 17-year-old Shields took home the gold medal, and one would think Nike and Wheaties would break down her door with endorsement deals. However, that is not the case. Thus, Shields is sent as the pride of Flint in limbo with all the factors pushing against her. There’s a sexist and racist element where companies only want a style of female athlete they can “market,” coupled with the fact that Shields’ family looked at her triumph as a way out of their money troubles.
It’s heart-wrenching, and it’s all the more effective because of Destiny’s performance, which delivers raw emotion honestly and without Hollywood artifice. Her portrayal, in conjunction with the brutal honesty of the story, makes The Fire Insidea welcome alternative to the typical sports biopic that sanitizes any awkwardness or sadness that detracts from the joy of victory. It invites us to look at Shields and Crutchfield as actual people who have to keep living after winning.
The Fire Inside made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival; you can find more information here. From Amazon MGM Studios, the film will be released theatrically on Dec. 25, 2024.
