Skip to main content

The Fire Inside | Review by: Amanda Guarragi


 In 2018, a historic moment happened at the 90th Academy Awards, with Cinematographer Rachel Morrison being the first woman nominated. Her work in Black Panther garnered critical acclaim, and she has been a filmmaker to watch ever since. 


After that, she worked on the Dee Rees film Mudbound and solidified herself as a director of photography who captures the pain and beauty of characters within the frame. Morrison dabbled in directing television episodes of The Morning Show and The Mandalorian but wanted to find the right project for her directorial debut. 


Morrison chose a sports biopic with Barry Jenkins as a screenwriter for The Fire Inside. Morrison explored the life of Claressa ’T-Rex’ Shields (Ryan Destiny), an inspiring true story about a female boxer from Flint, Michigan, who worked her way to win Olympic gold. Shields is the first woman in her country’s history to win an Olympic gold medal for the sport. 


Any sports drama can play off as generic because of the similar structure of obstacles and overcoming hardships. However, the inspiring performances of a well-written character journey can elevate it to a powerful feature. 


Jenkins weaved the family dynamic of Shields’ household perfectly, with simple moments building to larger, more problematic ones from when she was a child to adulthood. It also plays as a coming-of-age film, which helps the growth of Shields as a character and gives Ryan Destiny much more to work with. 


Destiny has the breakthrough performance of the year as Clarissa Shields. She plays Shields as reserved but cocky when she needs to be because she knows the power within her. When Destiny is acting alongside Brian Tyree Henry (who plays her trainer and former boxer Jason Crutchfield), there’s this natural chemistry between them. 


Morrison gave them the space to live in the moment as these characters. She observed them and a beautiful bond was formed between them. Jenkins incorporated the struggles of women in the boxing world and how Jason Crutchfield helped guide Clarissa to greatness. Not only what it was like to be a woman in the boxing world but also how society perceived a Black woman in that space. 


Barry Jenkins’ screenwriting expertise is he doesn’t make stereotypical social issues the focal point of his films but rather integrates them as microaggressions to make them more prominent and impactful. Jenkins and Morrison bring the story of Clarissa Shields to the big screen and make the most inspirational sports drama since Ryan Coogler’s Creed in 2015. 


The Fire Inside has Ryan Destiny delivering a ferocious powerhouse performance, and Brian Tyree Henry continues to prove how charming of an actor he is. Morrison directs the boxing scenes with intimate, tight framing to show the fire within Clarissa Shields. Clarissa’s arrogance and confidence outside the ring are unleashed when fighting her opponents. It’s a fierce directorial debut from Rachel Morrison that will help fuel that spark in audiences to keep pursuing their goals. 


3.5/5


Review by: Amanda Guarragi 






 #movies #films #moviereviews #filmreviews #rachelmorrison #1stReviews #RyanDestiny #BarryJenkins #BrianTyreeHenry 

Popular posts from this blog

Rating all V/H/S/Halloween Segments

Like sorting through your candy after a night of trick-or-treating, V/H/S/ Halloween is a mixed bag. The eighth instalment in this cult-favourite horror anthology series comes up short of previous entries, but there are still a couple of treats in here that should satisfy your twisted cravings. A chilling still from V/H/S/ Halloween . Diet Phantasma This wraparound segment follows an R&D team testing a new low-calorie soda made with “real ghosts.” It’s silly fun, but gets a bit repetitive with each new test subject. The commercial playing during the end credits was a nice touch. Rating: ★★½☆ Coochie Coochie Coo This short feels like walking through a haunted house — but not in a good way. The plot is like something torn from a creepypasta thread. Everything is constantly being spelled out in a painfully obvious way. The practical effects and makeup are decent, and this is probably the only segment that comes close to being scary...
Read more

The Mandalorian Season 3 Review

  Listen, I love Star Wars. I will always love Star Wars.  The  original and prequel trilogies were a big part of my childhood, and helped shape my love of cinema. While  The   Mandalorian  isn’t among my favourites in  the  franchise, I thought it had a promising first season and a significantly stronger season two. Season three had so much potential, but a frustrating lack of focus held it back from greatness.  This show’s always had a bit of an identity crisis, but it’s never been as clear as it is here. Does it want to be a procedural-style adventure of  the  week, or tell an epic, multi-season spanning arc? Season one leaned toward  the  former, while Season two found a satisfying balance of both. Season three tries to find that balance, but  the  overarching story it wants to tell is bigger than  the  few episodes allotted to do so. There are only 8 chapters, some barely over 30 min. That’s a fair...
Read more

The Rip Review

  The Rip is all the evidence you need that a great cast can elevate an otherwise run-of-the-mill movie. Without its impressive A-list roster, this would’ve likely been lost among a crowd of forgettable January dumping ground releases. Throw Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and a handful of other extremely talented actors into the mix, though, and now you’ve got something worth watching.  While there are exceptions that prove the rule, a lot of these police/cartel thrillers are interchangeable when it comes to their cookie-cutter story beats. The Rip breaks exactly zero molds, but it also doesn’t feel as uninspired as it could’ve. There are enough surprises to keep things engaging, and the tension - which the movie often hinges on - is appropriately high strung. The action is punchy and loud, which is no surprise coming from Director Joe Carnahan. While I do have minor issues with some of the sequences feeling a bit choppy in how they were shot and edited, the action is solid and packs...
Read more