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, Robert De Niro

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edgar Ramírez	...	Roberto Durán
Robert De Niro	...	Ray Arcel
Usher	...	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	...	Juanita Leonard (as Jurnee Smollett-Bell)
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:

Biography | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout and some sexuality/nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gael Garcia Bernal was first cast as Roberto Duran. After he dropped out, Edgar Ramirez assumed the role.

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Goofs

Some of the cars in the film are wrong for the period. For example, when Roberto first meets Felicidad it is supposed to be in 1971 but they walk past a green Chevy Malibu model that was not built until 1973. Also, set in 1971, Roberto is leaning back trying to look cool for Felicidad and there is a Ford Granada parked on the street. The Ford Granada was not built until 1975.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.147 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Penas
Performed by Ulpiano Vergara y Lucho De Sedas
© 2004 TAMAYO RECORDS

User Reviews

A history lesson disguised as a boxing movie.

In 1971, Roberto Duran (Edgar Ramirez) fights at Madison Square Garden - an incredible accomplishment at a notable venue, considering Duran's humble origins. The eventual lightweight champion's story is narrated by his legendary trainer, Ray Arcel (Robert De Niro), a man who helped thousands of boxers master the sport, and who now must teach the kid strategy and discipline to become a true winner. And taking into account De Niro's own expertise with boxing movies, it's difficult not to trust everything he says about the up-and-comer. But despite star power, a respectable budget, and suitable performances, the film is an utter failure when it comes to visual style, technical execution, and storytelling.

The first problem is the narrative, which alternates between the past and the present, hoping to shed some light on the traumatic events that shaped each player. But it goes too far, wasting time on Arcel's personal drama (including estrangement from a daughter) while also focusing pointlessly on the supporting characters that interact with him. This should be Duran's story, but quite routinely, it pays unnecessary attention to Arcel, promoter Carlos Eleta (Ruben Blades), wiseguy Frankie Carbo (John Turturro), childhood pal Chaflan (Oscar Jaenada), and even the primary opponent, Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher Raymond). This is especially detrimental when Duran inevitably falls from grace; it allows the audience to lose interest in - and concern for - the antihero at the heart of it all, since there are so many other characters to follow. Even Roberto's wife Felicidad (Ana de Armas) is more sympathetic and believable (she's also featured in the only amusing scene, involving pleasurable intercourse that shifts into torturous childbirth).

All of the cutting back and forth in the timeline is dreadfully commonplace - as well as irritating - lending to the feeling that this biographical yarn is so familiar and clichéd that twisting up its chronology must surely confuse audiences into thinking that it's modern and fresh. This leads into the second problem: "Hands of Stone" quickly becomes a history lesson disguised as a boxing movie.The 1964 Panama Canal Zone rioting was a significant, potent piece of a longstanding territorial conflict, but it just doesn't fit seamlessly into a film about Duran's rise and fall in the ring. The idea of fighting his whole life becomes comically downplayed when he's shown to literally begin streetfighting as a preteen on the poverty-ridden streets of El Chorrillo, before receiving more formal training by a coach at a local gym. And then there's time for a love story, which follows the typical course of recklessness with wealth and eventually drunken abuse.

It's not enough to be an inspirational sports drama anymore - and definitely not when it comes to boxing, which has seen a tremendous quantity of theatrical efforts in the last few years alone. Just like Duran's immoral choices when it comes to psychological warfare and his motives for controversially (and famously) stopping his rematch against Leonard (depicted here to involve unscrupulous actions by a greedy agent and a mental defeat rather than overconfident slacking), "Hands of Stone" seems to have been made for all the wrong reasons. At times it's a bit of patriotic propaganda for Panama (it regularly resembles advertising or promotion instead of entertainment); at others it's an account of a detestable athlete, incapable of handling riches and celebrity - and certainly written poorly enough that he's irredeemable as a hero (a penultimate redemption bout is portrayed to be painfully trivial). Audiences are also supposed to believe (inconceivably) that this hotheaded brute used superior intelligence to distract his nemesis, rather than merely spitting out insults in the heat of the moment.

In its hastiness to chronicle the singular Panamanian star, the film also can't be bothered with acceptable editing and structuring techniques; fades, cuts, fight choreography, and transitions betray severely amateurish efforts. Sequences are included out of expectation, not creativity; training montages, the segueing of rounds, and even sex/nudity appear because the filmmakers think these moments are anticipated - or required. For viewers unaware of the 1980 "Brawl in Montreal" and the rematch that followed later in the same year, "Hands of Stone" at least presents an unexpected (though not entirely satisfying) third option to that age-old dilemma of any pugilist showdown: the protagonist can only win or lose, and both choices have been previously, repeatedly committed to celluloid.

• The Massie Twins (GoneWithTheTwins.com)

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

Panama USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 August 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hands of Stone

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,751,388, 28 August 2016

Gross USA:

$4,712,792

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,978,353

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