Hands of Stone

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As reported by Dollyforme

 

I am in love. Ana de Armas has stolen my heart. First in War Dogs, and now in Hands of Stone. And she is nude in this picture – very, very, very sexy.

In this movie, she plays the role of wife to a super fighter, and does a great job as such.

The screen really lights up when she is on it. Ana de Armas has a patented role. The initial relationship between her as a schoolgirl and Duran isn't believable, but it gets somewhat better as they grow older. The role basically is generic as she plays a wife who endures her successful husband's selfishness and decline.

Ana De Armas is a Cuban-Spanish actress. She currently lives in Los Angeles. She was born and raised in Havana, Cuba. De Armas attended the National Theater School of Cuba. Her first film was Una rosa de Francia, starring with Alex Gonzalez, at the age of 16.

At the age of 18, she moved to Spain. Her first major television success there was the Spanish TV series El Internado, in which she starred as Carolina Leal, airing on Antena 3 in 2007. She later continued her career in the film Mentiras y gordas (2009), the TV series Hispania, la leyenda (2010–2012), and Blind Alley (2011).

OK, back to the movie……so, for me this movie is a must see! Complex and energetic account of Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard legendary matches. Great cast and wonderful performances by DeNiro, Edgar Ramírez, Ana De Armas, Usher, and Ruben Blades.

The fighting matches are accurate to the inch and the production design is impeccable. All in all the best box bio movie in many years and one of the best historical dramas of the year.

Writer-director Jonathan Jakubowicz unreels the story of Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán (Edgar Ramírez) and his personal and professional relationship with veteran trainer Ray Arcel (Robert De Niro).

The template Jakubowicz is working from is obviously Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (underlined by De Niro’s presence), but neither Jakubowicz’s story nor his filmmaking technique has that kind of power; the movie subsides into a pattern of rise-and-fall-and-rise-again familiar from countless boxing movies from Body and Soul to Rocky and beyond.

Still, it’s well-mounted and well-acted by a cast that includes Rubén Blades as Durán’s manager, Usher Raymond IV as Sugar Ray Leonard, John Turturro as a shadowy Mafia figure and of course Ana de Armas as Durán’s wife.

Hands of Stone is the story of boxer Roberto Duran from his reckless boyhood in poverty in Panama, through his rise to being an international champion, to his humiliating fall. And finally to his comeback. It's crowded with a flurry of details.

The first thing that comes to mind when we hear the name Roberto Duran is the notorious fight with Sugar Ray Leonard and Duran's alleged words, "No Mas" as he stopped fighting.

Director/writer Jonathan Jakubowicz tries to provide context to that famous moment in boxing lore. In trying to provide sufficient background, he has to decide what to emphasize and what to leave out. It's a mixed punching bag.

In trying to be true to the relationships, familial problems, the locales (particularly Panama), politics, racketeering, and the fight game, Jakubowicz spreads himself and sometimes loses focus. He blurs information. Obviously in choosing what to include - and how to include it - he has to take some license.

For instance, Jakubowicz makes a good choice in featuring the Davey Moore fight in which Duran beat Moore for the Light Middleweight title. But we don't know it was his 7th fight after the humiliating loss to Leonard. We don't know that Duran had returned to the ring in less than a year's time. He beat Nino Gonzalez in Cleveland. Gonzalez? Cleveland? Probably info we don't need to know.

Neither do we find out that Duran fought more than 40 times after the Leonard debacle.

Hands of Stone is one of those films that is awash with music. Music often substitutes for character. Almost every punch and every word has to withstand the swelling or tinkling music in the background.

Jankubowicz even seems to think that Robert De Niro needs musical accompaniment. De Niro plays trainer Ray Arcel. Hands of Stone is De Niro set to music. There's music when he talks to his wife, music at a press conference, music when he gives instructions to his fighter. In Hands of Stone, when it rains, it rains violins.

Some of the cast is outstanding. De Niro is excellent as Duran's trainer. His performance makes us think that the film might be stronger if Arcel had been the main character instead of Duran. Usher brings a quiet charisma as Sugar Ray Leonard. He's immediately likeable. Panamanian singer/songwriter Ruben Blades is credible as Duran's manager.

The main performance by Edgar Ramirez as Duran is as in flux as the entire film. He's serviceable, but is sometimes stymied by the jabbing script.

So – go see this move, NOW! I just loved it so much!!!

Comments

This one doesn't sound like it's my cup of tea. frown

I'll wait for it to... Netflix or Amazon Prime

Thanks DFM yes

 

I love that sentence. I´m not too much into boxing stories but Ana de Armas will make me think about it. Chris