Hands of Stone Review – Engaging, Solid, A Box Office Knockout

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Category: Film

Published on Saturday, 27 August 2016 19:37

Written by Janet Walker

Hands of Stone, from The Weinstein Company, presents the epic story of Roberto Duran, a dirt poor Panamanian slum baby pegged for boxing greatness who rose to rule with the help of a legendary New York trainer Ray Arcel.

Directed and written by Jonathan Jakubowicz, Hands of Stone stars Oscar Ramirez as Roberto Duran, and Robert De Niro as Ray Arcel, with Usher Raymond as Sugar Ray Leonard. Hands of Stone also stars Ana de Armas, Ruben Blades, John Turturro, Ellen Barkin, and Drena De Niro, with Pedro Perez as Plomo, Oscar Jaenada as Chaflan and Reg E. Cathey as boxing promoter Don King.

Hands of Stone begins during the Panamanian revolution with a young Duran watching the white American students singing the National Anthem while the Panamanians, whom they were essentially annexing the land for The Panama Canal, were starving in the streets.

As the mood shifted the young Duran, played by David Arosemena, ran through the military base to a mango tree, climbed the tree and secured food for his family. This follows with other attempts to steal food to feed himself and his family and gain a few dollars by bare fist boxing in the streets.

It's here he captured the eye of Panamanian boxing legend Plomo played by Pedro Perez, who agrees to train the kid to keep him from jail. He tells him "I want you to get into the ring and win" to which Duran replies, "I win and you buy me ice cream." Needless to say Duran was soon eating plenty of ice cream.

His skill was quickly gaining attention and Plomo knew there was only one person that could take him to the world stage, Madison Square Garden, and fight for the world titles and that was legendary and mobbed marked man Ray Arcel.

Arcel, played by Robert De Niro, had a few troubles with the underworld that owned New York in the 1950's. His vision for boxing and those who ruled the game were different and after an attempted hit on his life, in order to keep the peace and his life, he stopped training. Plomo telephoned Arcel and asked him so he explained he could only train him for free and went to the Frankie Carbo, played by John Turturro, and asked his permission.

Free won the day for Arcel and set Duran on the path to The Garden. Soon the two are working through their differences as Duran is well aware of his prowess in the ring. He is cocky and doesn't quite yet understand the strategy of boxing. Any dummy can take a beating. Playing your opponent against himself and getting him to leave his strategy wins in the ring.

As Duran is confident in himself, and passionate, he has decided once he saw Felicidad Iglesias, he wanted her. By this time, he was understanding strategy and using it, like mysticism, on others who weren't as aware of its power. Needless to say soon Felicidad and Roberto were married with a baby, then another, and another and yes one more on the way.

As Hands of Stone progresses, the background of rising from poverty to fighting in Madison Square Garden would be enough. For Duran, and more importantly the promoters that handled the fight, it wasn't.

Hands of Stone follows three major title fights with the back to back bouts with Sugar Ray Leonard, played by Usher Raymond, and the epic mental focus he battled after each fight.

Win or lose, Duran would, and this is played out as the director has created these pinnacle moments in his career, celebrate the victory or drown the defeat. His post-fight parties are depicted as large, legendary and almost an addict's fix increasing incrementally as his career reached new heights.

Boxing promoter Don King, played by Reg E. Cathey, and Carlos Eleta, Roberto Duran's Agent, played by Ruben Blades, famously schedule a rematch between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran in less than a year between matches making it nearly impossible for Duran to regain his top form.

Duran's rise almost shadows the rise of the sport itself and Hands of Stone provides the complex background of the corruption of boxing, the challenges both physically and mentally of the sport, the next hungry fighter, the over the top personality of Duran, and his moments of indiscretion and the compelling stories of his childhood.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Not knowing the career of "No Mas" (No More) fighter Duran, for reasons other than pop culture I wouldn't have been compelled to dig deep into his life.

I had high expectations for Hands of Stone, with a belief that Robert De Niro would earn a Supporting Oscar Nomination come January, and I walked away sure that I was right.

Jonathan Jakubowicz built a seamless, engaging, timeline that covered a living person and the fifth greatest boxer of all time hitting all the highlights and low points of an championship career.

Oscar Ramirez is outstanding. He is handsome, charming, absorbing and as Duran he plays larger than life, the pre-fight disarming first blood, winner take all, trash talking machismo with a punch that can fell most.

Duran was all about the win and not out of arrogance but out of poverty. Ramirez's performance has the swagger of the winning world champion and his flamboyant fashion tastes.

I think the audience will expect one explosive moment, the arch, the pinnacle and the downfall, when actually the film moves from high point to high point, with the fall out or let down that seems to be Duran's pattern following each. 

The performances were a stand out from De Niro to Ramirez and Ana de Armas to the childhood friend, Chaflan, played by Oscar Jaenada and Ellen Barkin, every person in this cast provides a stand out top of the game performance.

Hands of Stone should be around come Awards season. I expect Robert De Niro to be nomination and wouldn't be surprised if Oscar Ramirez also earns a nomination.

Hands of Stone is a must see! A winning knock-out combination!

Hands of Stone opens in theaters August 26, 2016. Check local listings.