The Fire Inside
I watched “The Fire Inside” the night after this year’s election. I’m not sure that I think Rachel Morrison’s film does anything extraordinary, but I do think it was the right film for the moment. While it follows a lot of the same formula as your average underdog sports movie, it’s ultimately about what we choose to do when life does not turn out the way we expect it to. Claressa Shields, who became the first US woman to win a Gold Medal in boxing at 17 in 2012, finds herself at a crossroads when the Gold Medal doesn’t lead to what it does for other people. That’s as important a part of the journey as getting to London, and it’s where “The Fire Inside’s” heart lies.
Our first image of Shields is from 2006. She is 11 years old, and jogging down the streets of Flint, Michigan, on her way to Berston Field House, a gym run by former boxer Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry). She’s wanting to train to box. Jason gives her a chance in the ring…and she’s good. Cut to five years later, and she is going through trials to get to the Olympics. Jason and Caressa see visions of Olympic gold, and endorsements, which would help her help her family financially. What they find is something quite different.
From our first moments of watching Claressa jog her way to the gym, Morrison and her cinematographer, Rina Yang, create an image of Flint, Michigan that is rooted in harsh economic realities while also using light and framing to give us a sense of her story being one to root for, with a light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, there is, as we are told in the end credits (and if you are familiar with her story in real life), but as the film unfolds, there is doubt that sets in. Yes, Claressa gets to the Olympics and wins the gold, but the aftermath is unexpected for both her and Jason. She does win gold, but the endorsements do not come. Part of what makes “The Fire Inside” so strong is that Morrison and screenwriter Barry Jenkins do not end at the 2012 Olympics, but paint a picture at how the system works (or doesn’t work) for not just marginalized people, but trailblazers in unconventional sports. You’d think it’d be easy to sell someone like Claressa as an American hero along the lines of a Michael Phelps or other gold medalists, but- as one person tells Jason as he’s trying to lock down an endorsement deal for Claressa- people don’t necessarily want to think about a young woman getting hit. The combination of elements in this narrative really works to the film’s benefit, especially as it puts the spotlight on Claressa, and what she’s truly doing this for.
Even more so than its narrative, how “The Fire Inside” really finds itself triumphing is in its lead performances. Brian Tyree Henry has been one of my favorite character actors for a long time- and got a deserving Oscar nomination a few years ago for “Causeway”- so his exemplary work here as Jason is not a surprise, but the way he becomes a surrogate father for Claressa, and has to balance that with his own responsibilities to his family, make the film feel tense in a lot of key moments in how this dynamic will work with Claressa. As Claressa, Destiny is a force of nature, and her determination and internal thought process is a critical element in the film as it moves outside the ring. I loved these two (and others), and it’s why “The Fire Inside” really lit a fire under me for its story, and the adversity its protagonists follow along the way.
