Written by
Pradip Bhat
Review for the film "
Hands of Stone"
Runtime:
1 Hour 45 Minutes
CAST & CREW
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Plot: Duran was an unbeaten boxer who delivered humiliation and punishment in the arena, including surpassing the magnetic Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980. But his most infamous fight came later. Duran agreed to contest with Leonard again, then halfway through the bout, he left. He asserts that he did not say the phrase he is forever affiliated with, “No Mas.” Duran’s entire life, beginning with his infancy in Panama.
Left alone by his father, grazing under the firearms of American soldiers, Duran grows up angry and starving on the lanes of Panama City. He was restless for a fight throughout his life. His initial victories in the ring caught the eyes of Ray Parcel, the legendary trainer, who bids his services free of cost, wanting to train Duran boxing techniques as well as mental strategy. In the end, the two Arch enemies unite and become good friends. To know what led to this, the door to the silver screen is open for you.
Analysis: Credits to writer-director Jonathan Jakubowicz, who cynosures on Duran, one of the most talked about figures in boxing history. It would have been satisfying if it concentrated on the remarkable history between Duran and Leonard — once worst rivals, they grew up to be good friends later on. Instead, Jakubowicz’s screenplay tries to showcase his entire life. Jakubowicz makes De Niro a co-lead with Ramirez, wasting a lot of time on Arcel’schemistry with his wife and alienated daughter, and his encounters with the Mafia.
It’s De Niro's Arcel who provides obiter dictum in the film, not Ramirez’s Duran. But it throws the movie off balance, snatching the limelight away from its apparent subject. Perhaps the film spends more time with the amicable Arcel because Duran is such a dampening character in some ways, thoughtless and rage-filled, called an animal even by his manager.
Star Performances: Niro is influential as the 70- year-old Arcel in what should be a saucy supporting role. Casting Usher Raymond as the agile, sweet-faced Leonard only makes us more likely to support him rather than the terrifying Duran. Ramirez boldly pledges to stay true to Duran’s uncouth nature. No one seems to realize, maybe least of all Duran, why he popularly quit that Leonard bout.
What's there? The film does not honey-coat his behaviour, but it does not explain it either.The boxing sequences are electrifying, the camera bobbing and swirling around the contestants, then rushing up to the rafters for a 360-degree view of the ring.
What's not there? If this had been a more candid, documentary-style movie, like Michael Mann’s “
Ali
Click to look into! >> Read More...
,” concentrating on the twists and turns of the Duran-Leonard clash, the movie could have been remarkable. But in trying to hem in so much of Duran’s life without delving deep into what made him kick off, yet expecting us to feel for him, “Hands of Stone” ends up in unintentional flaws.
Verdict: Boxing, national pride and politics, blended with the standard sports triviality in "Hands of Stone," an engrossing biography of the boxer Roberto Durán.
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