Review: Hands of Stone

Synopsis:

HANDS OF STONE follows the life of Roberto Duran (Edgar Ramirez), the Panamanian fighter who made his professional debut in 1968 as a 16 year-old and retired in 2002 at the age of 50. In June 1980, he defeated Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher Raymond) to capture the WBC welterweight title, but shocked the boxing world by returning to his corner in their November rematch, famously saying the words “no mas” (no more.)

What We Thought:

Hands of Stone is a pretty solid fight film. There are very few bad boxing films and this one is about the life of Roberto Duran.

Edgar Ramirez plays the Panamanian icon Roberto Duran. Robert De Niro plays his legendary trainer Ray Arcel. Singer Usher plays Sugar Ray Leonard and the absolutely stunning Ana de Armas plays Duran’s wife.

The film is a biopic about Duran, but also a historical pic about Panama and US relations. Duran was very anti-American being told that his father was an American soldier that then abandoned him. At the time the US and Panama were in agreement over the Panama Canal, but citizens weren’t thrilled over it. Duran always fought with an anti-American chip on his shoulder. Even his early days with Arcel fighting in the States were difficult for Duran.

But as the film shows, he became one of boxing’s brightest stars. He was a monster in the ring and had two epic fights with Sugar Ray Leonard. If you don’t know the outcomes, I won’t mention them. Those fights are two big plot points in the film and Duran really was a showboat who could back it up.

The film also gets into his personal life meeting his wife, being uneducated, growing up on the streets, wanting to rebel against the US troops in his country. It shows him giving back and wanting to help his people as he became rich. It also shows (like with every boxer) how promoters and managers screwed him over. Ruben Blades plays his manager/promoter and shows his dealings with Don King. If you know Don King, you know money went elsewhere besides the fighter.

It has a subplot about De Niro’s character’s long-lost daughter that seemed so unnecessary. Arcel was fighting with the mob about training Duran and boxing in New York so I don’t know why you needed the daughter sub-plot. It pans out a little but could have been cut.

Ramirez is fantastic as Duran. He’s an underrated actor here in the US and I wish this movie was bigger so more people would know his name. De Niro isn’t quite Raging Bull in this, but he’s still De Niro. Blades is quite good too. I don’t know if I liked Usher as Sugar Ray, but I’m also not a Sugar Ray guy so I might not be liking him because of that. De Armas is really good as the wife. I’ve recently seen her in War Dogs and Knock Knock and she’s ready for a big Hollywood breakthrough.

Hands of Stone is good. It’s not a legendary sports movie like other boxing flicks, but it’s still worth the watch. If you like Duran you’ll like the movie. The acting is really good and you might learn some history too. Overall it’s…

RECOMMENDED!

CAST & CREW:

• Edgar Ramirez
• Robert De Niro
• Ruben Blades
• Usher Raymond
• Ana de Armas

Recommended If You Like:

• Boxing Movies
• Roberto Duran
• Edgar Ramirez