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.
Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here.
