Girls who grow up realizing they need to know how to fight don’t necessarily become boxers. But Flint, Mich., native Claressa Shields , for whom pugilism was a passion, entered the ring early: As a teenage phenom, she punched her way to record-setting, Olympic-gold levels.
(Twice, back to back.) It sounds like the type of real-life sports saga made for the movies, via a time-tested playbook, one that “The Fire Inside” — the fleet, full-of-feeling directorial debut of Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison — very much embraces at first. You’ve got the hardscrabble upbringing, the tough-love coach/boxer camaraderie and the mental hurdles to overcome before the big moment.
Gifted, driven and played by a memorable Ryan Destiny (as if glowering were a renewable energy source), Claressa competed with the dreams of a broken town on her shoulders, and won like none of that was a burden. Most storytellers wouldn’t require more than that to fill up a feature, and the details of Claressa’s rise make up the movie’s familiar setup. Going the distance begins with running in the snow, away from an understocked house and neglectful single mom (Oluniké Adeliyi) and toward the boxing classes across town operated by volunteer coach Jason Crutchfield (the formidable Brian Tyree Henry ), an ex-fighter.
Claressa’s no-nonsense talent and confidence quickly erase Jason’s prejudices about girls in the ring, and under his gritty, paternal stewardship, she goes on to tr.