Movie Review: 'The Fire Inside' Gives Claressa Shields the Spotlight
The best women's boxer in the world finally gets the attention she deserves in The Fire Inside.
The Fire Inside
Directed by Rachel Morrison
Written by Barry Jenkins
Starring Ryan Destiny, Bryan Tyree Henry
Release Date December 25th, 2024
Published December 9th, 2024
One of the great pleasures of my career as a film critic is watching great actors act. Bryan Tyree Henry is an actor that I particularly enjoy. Ever since I first saw him on Donald Glover’s Atlanta, I’ve been eager to see more of Henry’s work. Since then, he’s delivered some of my favorite character actor performances on the big screen from If Beale Street Could Talk to the criminally underseen Causeway with Jennifer Lawrence, and even his work in the less than stellar blockbuster, The Eternals. Bryan Tyree Henry makes acting look effortless. Thus, I was very excited to see his name in the credits for the new movie, The Fire Inside.
The Fire Inside stars Ryan Destiny in the story of Olympic Gold Medal boxer Claressa ‘T-Rex’ Shields. The film follows the challenges that Shields overcame on her way to winning the gold medal in boxing at the 2012 Olympic Games. Shields was only 17 years old at the time. Bryan Tyree Henry co-stars as her trainer and father-figure, Jason Crutchfield. When things at her home with her troubled mother became chaotic, Crutchfield took Claressa in and made her part of his family. Together, they would train and prepare for the next challenge in front of them, whether it was a boxing opponent or life in Flint, Michigan.
The economic disparity between Shields’ life growing up in Flint and the elaborate financial operation of the Olympics provide as much or more of the dramatic impact of The Fire Inside than any of Claressa's fights. After Claressa’s triumph at the 2012 Olympic games she returned to Flint and struggled to get by. She was arguably the best female boxer in the world and she was forced to consider giving up the sport in order to get a job and support her family. All the while other Olympic athletes received endorsement contracts and financial support from the national Olympics organization.
The film shows Jason Crutchfield’s efforts to try and find sponsors for Claressa and having doors slammed in his face. The underlying tension of these scenes is racism and the fact that Claressa was not one to change her personality to be more palatable to the marketing machines. The final act of The Fire Inside becomes not a typical sports movie, building toward a triumph in the ring, but rather the story of a woman who demanded to be treated fairly and equitably by a sports apparatus built on appearances and what I can only characterize as systemic racism.
History tells us that Claressa Shields was successful in many ways and the real Claressa Shields is a true pioneer in women’s sports, becoming a champion for gender equality. The Fire Inside, as written by Barry Jenkins and directed by Rachel Morrison, lays the groundwork for the ferocious talent and tenacity of Claressa Shields as well as her legacy outside the ring as a champion of women’s sports and equality. All the while, Rachel Morrison never deifies Shields, she merely gives space for her bright young star, Ryan Destiny to embody the dynamic boxing star and the drive that has made her the best female boxer in the world and a warrior out of the ring for women’s rights.
And on top of all that, Morrison, a cinematographer by trade, making her feature directing debut, never loses sight of the visual elements of filmmaking. The Fire Inside is a fully realized film, one with a deeply compelling story and characters and a dynamic visual feast that uses colors and lighting to give texture to the story being told. The harsh grim sights of Flint rub angrily up against the glitz and glamour of the Olympics scenes uniting the storytelling and the look of the film brilliantly. Credit cinematographer Rina Yang for being an exceptional partner for her director.
But I do, once again, want to throw a spotlight on Bryan Tyree Henry. His work is easy to underestimate. He’s so natural and carries himself with such ease that I don’t think people appreciate his work enough. So much of the Awards season in Hollywood is dominated by actors whose effort on screen is notable. Be it an obvious physical transformation or bellowing in agony at every twist in the plot, people find it easy to honor a performer who looks like they are ACTING. For me however, a performance like that of Bryan Tyree Henry in The Fire Inside is far more compelling. The effortless grace in his performances, his charismatic manner and expressive face move me far more than any capital A-Acting performance I’ve ever seen.
Find my archive of more than 20 years and more than 2000 movie reviews at SeanattheMovies.blogspot.com. Find my modern review archive on my Vocal Profile, linked here. Follow me on Twitter at PodcastSean. Follow the archive blog on Twitter at SeanattheMovies. Join me on BlueSky @ih8critics.bsky.social. And you can listen to me talk about movies on the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast. If you have enjoyed what you have read, consider subscribing to my writing here on Vocal. If you’d like to support my writing, you can do so by making a monthly pledge or by leaving a one time tip. Thanks!
About the Creator
Sean Patrick
Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.
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