Hands of Stone (2016)

The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.

Director:

Jonathan Jakubowicz

Writer:

Jonathan Jakubowicz

Stars:

Edgar Ramírez, Usher Raymond, Robert De Niro

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edgar Ramírez	...	Roberto Durán
Robert De Niro	...	Ray Arcel
Usher Raymond	...	Sugar Ray Leonard (as Usher Raymond IV)
Rubén Blades	...	Carlos Eleta
Ana de Armas	...	Felicidad Iglesias
Pedro Perez	...	Plomo (as Pedro 'Budú' Pérez)
Óscar Jaenada	...	Chaflan
John Turturro	...	Frankie Carbo
Ellen Barkin	...	Stephanie Arcel
Jurnee Smollett-Bell	...	Juanita Leonard
Yancey Arias	...	Benny Huertas
Drena De Niro	...	Adele
Ilza Ponko	...	Clara Samaniego (as Ilza Rosario)
Anthony Molinari	...	Marine Molinari
Rick Avery	...	Gil Clancey

Storyline

Follows the life of Roberto Duran, who made his professional debut in 1968 as a 16-year-old and retired in 2002 at age 50. In June 1980, he defeated Sugar Ray Leonard to capture the WBC welterweight title but shocked the boxing world by returning to his corner in the November rematch, saying 'no mas' (no more).

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Plot Keywords:

rematch | 1980s | boxing | sex scene | fight | 

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Taglines:

No mas. No surrender.

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Genres:

Action | Biography | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout and some sexuality/nudity

Details

Country:

Panama USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 August 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Manos de piedra

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,751,388, 28 August 2016, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$4,711,736, 9 October 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fuego Films,Epicentral Studios,La Piedra Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the height of his career, Roberto Duran was known to be very generous. Often handing out money to the poor in Panama. He saw himself as Robin Hood, helping the poor. Which is why he named one of his kids Robin.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Will Smith/Usher (2016)

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Soundtracks

Símbolo
by Rubén Blades
© 2015 Sony Classical

User Reviews

It Borrows From the Best

Hands of Stone is a rise, fall and rise again story of famed Panamanian boxer Roberto Duran (Ramirez) who leapt into notoriety in the 70's after his first controversial appearance at Madison Square Gardens. By the time of his retirement in 2002 at the age of 50, he had 199 fights under his belt with 103 wins and four titles as a light weight, welter weight, light middle weight and middle weight. The film however focuses on his relationship with legendary boxing trainer Ray Arcel (De Niro) whose own exploits in the boxing world made him the first trainer to be inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Doing a movie of this nature, a couple of questions arise. How do you accurately and intimately make a film about the life and times of Roberto Duran who in addition to being a legend was also a legendary pre-fight s**t talker? How can one best encapsulate the real life of a man who at one point was the guiding light of an entire nation yet had enough of an ego to name all of his male heirs Roberto? Finally, how do you do make that movie great while siphoning off of cues and themes from inspirations like Rocky (1976) and Raging Bull (1980)?

The answer is of course you can't; but you can make a half-way decent film out of everything. And that's basically what director Jonathan Jakubowicz and Bob and Harvey Weinstein have done. It plods its course, steadily paces itself, jab at the appropriate emotional moments and ducks from the energy-sucking minutia that episodic plot-lines tend to have in abundance. Robert De Niro is fine as Ray Arcel giving a spry, worthwhile performance in the same ballpark as Billy Sunday in Men of Honor (2000). Likewise Edgar Ramirez hits all the right notes as our beleaguered hero giving the screenplay a much better performance than it honestly deserves. Ana de Armas, Usher Raymond, Ruben Blades, Oscar Jaenada and Ellen Barkin are all very good with Reg E. Cathey giving a very small but showstopping performance as infamous boxing promoter Don King. Heck even the balance of languages (English and Spanish) is respectfully and organically done. If a great film is three great scenes and no bad ones, then Hands of Stone is 50% of the way there.

Yet much like the underrated Southpaw (2015), it also has no pivotal, never forget scenes or iconic lines. The brightly colored barrios of Panama City and the glitzy sparkle of Las Vegas, not to mention the atmospherics of locker rooms inexplicably filled with smoke, don't really leave an impact. Neither do the stakes of Duran's life which, much like Billy Hope's, was and probably still is filled with conflict, inner-turmoil and a pride that manifests in nationalistic fervor. It's a shame too because if the film decided to explore that aspect of Duran's life, i.e. his relationship to Panama and its people, it could have been unique enough to recommend strongly.

Yet instead, the film doubles down on the "success is ruination" themes picked up by Raging Bull, while kneading out the supposed nobility of a sport in which two grown men beat the crap out of each other. Yet while watching Hands of Stone, I kept hoping they would change up the kinetic, fast-paced editing of the fight sequences with moments that were, say a little more poetic. For those of you who know what I'm insinuating, congratulations you've seen a "great" scene from a "great" movie about boxing.

The best that can be said about Hands of Stone is it does what it does predictably and well, like a cover band that's been around for years. It's energetic, it's fun to watch, it certainly has talented people who put their heart and soul into the project and it plays all the hits...yet it's not the real thing. Oh well, a tin star still shines, a discount belt still buckles and Hands of Stone is still good. Watch it if you must, otherwise watch Rocky again instead.