WASHINGTON 鈥� The Associated Press 聽him the聽greatest聽lightweight of the 20th century, while Ring Magazine him the fifth best fighter of all time, behind Sugar Ray 搁辞产颈苍蝉辞苍,听Henry Armstrong,聽Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis.
And yet, almost tragically, Roberto Dur谩n is widely remembered for that infamous moment at the Louisiana Superdome on Nov. 25, 1980, where he called it quits in his rematch title defense against Sugar Ray Leonard, reportedly bowing out with聽the phrase “No m谩s” (no more). Did he actually utter those words? What brought him to that mental space聽of quitting? And how did he recover afterward?
That controversial聽life and career is explored in the new boxing聽biopic聽“Hands of Stone,” the bruising nickname for Dur谩n (Edgar Ramirez), who聽rises聽from the streets of Panama to train with renowned American聽trainer聽Ray Arcel (Robert DeNiro). While the film shows numerous聽bouts, three fights serve as fulcrums:聽first beating聽Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher) to win the WBC welterweight title in a unanimous decision in Montreal, quitting the聽infamous New Orleans rematch, then rebounding to a 1983 comeback against undefeated Davey Moore on his 32nd birthday at Madison Square Garden.
For all its structural flaws, “Hands of Stone” is worth watching at the very least for its performances.
You’ll recognize Ramirez from聽Paul Greengrass’ “Bourne Ultimatum” (2007), Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012) and David O. Russell’s “Joy” (2015). But聽the role most resembles his聽Emmy nod聽as Venezuelan rebel Ilich Ram铆rez S谩nchez聽in聽the TV miniseries “Carlos” (2010), as Ramirez paints Dur谩n聽as an in-ring Panamanian freedom fighter, burned by an American father who deserted him as a young boy and a U.S. government clashing with his native land over the Panama Canal.
This breeds a chip-on-the-shoulder, angry-at-everyone attitude and a fear of abandonment that causes him to lash out at those closest to him,聽namely his knockout聽wife聽Felicidad Iglesias (Ana de Armas). She聽recalls聽Cathy Moriarty at the pool in “Raging Bull” (1980) as the magnetic Ramirez pursues her down the sidewalk like the suave聽Steven Bauer striking out in聽“Scarface” (1983).
The far聽more compelling聽relationship comes each time Arcel combs Dur谩n’s hair between rounds, overcoming his pupil’s聽initial聽mistrust聽to earn his respect with the聽realization that not all Americans are聽out to get him.聽Outside the ring, DeNiro steals the show as an aging vet with nothing to lose, depicted in his interactions with wife Stephanie (Ellen Barkin) and Brooklyn mob boss Frankie Carbo (John Turturro), who destroyed his boxing career and nearly left him for dead before reaching a gentleman’s agreement to leave him alone as long as he doesn’t make another cent from boxing.
If Paul Giamatti won聽awards for聽“Cinderella Man” (2005), Morgan Freeman for “Million Dollar Baby” (2004) and Sylvester Stallone for “Creed” (2015), there’s no reason why DeNiro can’t find a nod here. The screen聽legend聽steals the movie as the wise sage with meta-cred, offering聽plenty of lessons to teach from his own “unlikable anti-hero” Jake LaMotta聽鈥� proof that聽not every聽boxing protagonist needs to be a lovable, punch-drunk patriot like Rocky Balboa. DeNiro聽even quotes his聽“Raging Bull” wisdom to Ramirez, saying, “You’re the boss,” en route to a different聽“Ya聽never got me down, Ray.”
Just as聽DeNiro fought Sugar Ray 搁辞产颈苍蝉辞苍,听Ramirez fights Sugar Ray Leonard, portrayed not by Mark McGrath of ’90s band聽Sugar Ray, but by R&B star Usher Raymond. Instead of “put your dukes up,” it’s “hands up, suddenly we all got our hands up.” While few consider聽Usher聽a聽first-rate聽actor, his fancy footwork is undisputed after聽his to Gene Kelly. As Sugar Ray, he’s not asked to do much heavy lifting outside the ring 鈥斅爂iven a random聽soft-core sex scene with Jurnee Smollett-Bell (“Full House”) — but聽inside the squared circle, he’s a fitting float-like-a-butterfly聽dancer.
While the performances are winners 鈥� ranging from raw聽(Ramirez) to wise (DeNiro), flashy聽(Usher) to amusing聽(Reg E. Cathey as Don King and Robb Skyler as Howard Cosell),聽the storytelling itself is a bit suspect. There are times that聽Venezuelan writer/director Jonathan Jakubowicz shows major signs of promise. In the Panamanian romance scenes especially, the聽static wide-angle composition of the lovers sneaking into a building to make love would make Fellini and Antonioni proud.
Jakubowicz also shows in-ring聽pizzazz, weaving rapid edits, bone-crunching sound design and sweeping wide-angle tracking shots that show lights flashing above the ring like Broadway, recalling聽DeNiro’s line:聽“If he fought Sugar Ray, he would say, that the thing ain’t the ring it’s the play.”
Unfortunately,聽the聽film tries to cover too much ground too fast.聽Like a stone skipping across a pond, “Stone” jams way too much “life story” into an hour and 45 minutes,聽from flashbacks to Dur谩n’s childhood to the major moments of his boxing career, as聽fights come and go without the proper buildup. The rapid pacing feels a bit like a docudrama, resembling聽ESPN’s 鈥�30 for 30鈥� doc 鈥淣o Mas” more than a narrative script, while dips-to-black hide聽weak聽transitions between scenes.
Still,聽for all its structural ham-handedness, “Hands” mostly succeeds at聽providing insight into why聽Dur谩n called it quits.聽Sports buffs will come to see him as a fighter who not only realized he was out of shape, but a human being who realized he had lost his hunger. This was a聽ring technician offended by Sugar Ray’s dancing as if their聽bout聽was a show, a competitor offended by greedy managers hoping聽he’d lose in order to set up a moneymaking third fight. This was his way out.
To this day,聽Dur谩n insists he never said, “No m谩s,” a point reinforced by the聽“where are they now” end credits.聽During the聽apocryphal moment, a聽ringside announcer is the one聽who utters the phrase, suggesting the old “Liberty Valance” adage: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
In such mythical moments, we’re reminded why boxing remains the greatest sports聽movie subgenre. So many great movies have transposed聽so many聽different life allegories聽on these聽mano-a-mano showdowns, from聽Best Picture-winning underdog crowd-pleasers like “Rocky” (1976) to聽artfully-shot masterpieces creating tragic character studies of paranoid self-destruction like “Raging Bull.”
With such a high bar, film聽judges will dock points on the boxing score cards, leaving聽“Hands of Stone” bloodied in the agony of defeat. But to me, it’s a valiant effort, a hungry movie that succeeds on the human level more than the technical, one that聽may be left wobbly, but is at least standing at the bell. It may not be a knockout in victory or a knockdown in defeat, but it’s a bruising, aching split decision.
