The Fire Inside Parent Guide
The unwanted fourth act detracts from the tightly paced standard sports film.
Parent Movie Review
Growing up on the hard streets of Flint, Michigan, Claressa Shields (Ryan Destiny) knows she doesn’t have a lot of options. Her father is in prison, her mother (Olunike Adeliyi) is an unstable drunk, and her siblings provide a constant parade of trouble. Her best shot is fighting her way out – literally.
Claressa is a talented boxer, and she’s been working with her coach, Jason (Brian Tryee Henry) since she was a little girl. Now, she’s one of the best fighters of her size – despite only being 17 years old. And if she can keep up with her training, she has a good shot at the 2012 London Olympics, and a chance to be the first American woman to win a medal in boxing.
The first two-thirds of this movie religiously follows the established three-act sports movie structure. Talented athlete (usually from a troubled background with a difficult home life) has a shot at the big time, loses a bout at the beginning of the second act to teach them some valuable lesson about humility/listening to their coach/the fundamentals of the game, and comes back for the big fight in the final act. The Fire Inside delivers all these elements with reasonably tight pacing. Unfortunately, it then keeps going into a bonus fourth act about misogyny in sports endorsements and advertising. That’s a good story to tell but tacking it on as an epilogue after an apparently finished tale kills the pacing.
As with most movies about combative sports, this movie has the usual content issues – plenty of people getting punched in the head (albeit without grisly injuries). Olympic boxing is won more on points than knockouts, so the fights never get too messy. In this case, there’s also regular profanity, and plenty of smoking and drinking amongst the adult characters, as well as a reference to child sexual abuse. This flick isn’t a great choice for younger kids, but teen boxing fans shouldn’t have a problem.
Maybe I’m getting jaded, but watching another kid try to claw their way out of poverty by pursuing a career that guarantees a lifetime of concussive head trauma just doesn’t feel as inspiring as it used to. The fact that this film is based on a true story doesn’t improve the bad taste that leaves in my mouth. If that story hasn’t grown old for you yet, then I’ve got good news! There are about a million other movies with the same premise for you to go and enjoy.
Directed by Rachel Morrison. Starring Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry, De'Adre Aziza. Running time: 109 minutes. Theatrical release December 25, 2024. Updated December 28, 2024Watch the trailer for The Fire Inside
The Fire Inside
Rating & Content Info
Why is The Fire Inside rated PG-13? The Fire Inside is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for some strong language, thematic elements, and brief suggestive material.
Violence: There are frequent scenes of combative sports violence.
Sexual Content: Teen characters are seen making out. There are references to child sexual abuse.
Profanity: The script contains a single sexual expletive, 13 scatological curses, and regular use of mild curses and terms of deity.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Adult characters are seen drinking and smoking socially, clearly to excess, and with children in the house.
Page last updated December 28, 2024
The Fire Inside Parents' Guide
Why does Claressa struggle to get sponsorships? What did she expect would happen? How does she handle her reaction? What are some of the risks of long-term concussive head trauma? What are some of the symptoms of these kinds of injuries? How do they impact athletes and their families? What are the ethics of violence in sport?
Home Video
Related home video titles:
Other boxing flicks include, of course, Rocky and its many sequels, as well as the spinoff franchise Creed (likewise for the sequels). You might also enjoy combative sports in Million Dollar Baby, Warrior, Cinderella Man, or The Fighter. The issue of head injuries in sports is the theme of Concussion, the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu and his pioneering work in CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in professional football.