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They called boxing great Roberto Duran “Manos de Piedra,” so it’s understandable that the new biopic about him should be called “Hands of Stone.” And yet, it’s not the best title for this dramatic treatment, which repeatedly makes the point that brute force isn’t as important in the ring as the mental game.
As Duran’s legendary trainer Ray Arcel, DeNiro opens the picture by saying, “Ring sense is an art,” later pounding in to Duran, “It’s all in the head,” strategy is as important as technique.
“Hands of Stone” would be a better movie were it more “in the head,” but as it is, the picture offers the simple pleasures of both a conventional biopic and a boxing movie, structured for sports-story
redemption. And while, ultimately, it imposes a misleadingly tidy shape on Duran’s life and career, this account by writer-director Jonathan Jakubowicz doesn’t shy from depicting Duran as petulant, arrogant, insecure, reckless, and generally unlikeable. Granted, much of Duran’s bad behavior is on record, but Jakubowicz and star Edgar Ramirez keep their Duran, the picture’s ostensible hero, edgy to a daring degree.
The action begins in 1971 at Madison Square Garden, where Duran’s manager Carlos Eleta (Rubén Blades) introduces old friend Arcel to Duran. At 72, the canny Arcel has a reputation for training nearly 20 world champions, and he’s quickly sold on Duran (in 66 seconds to be exact, the length of the Duran vs. Huertas fight). Duran initially rejects Arcel because he represents the Panamian lightweight’s sore spot: as an American, Arcel bears in Duran’s mind the sins of his country and of Duran’s father, an American who left Duran and his mother to fend for themselves in the Panamanian slums. “Hands of Stone” flashes back to fill in Duran’s youth as, basically, a street urchin, an illiterate scrapper who thieves to eat, learns boxing from a tender age, and develops a cock-of-the-walk external confidence that belies his internalized fear of hunger.
Duran’s survivor mentality and, specifically, his experience of true hunger inform his later erratic behavior. And whether out of loyalty or insecurity, Duran brings with him to America not only Eleta, but his trainer “Plomo” (Pedro Perez) and his flamboyant street mentor “Chaflan” (Oscar Jaenada). “Hands of Stone” also weaves in the trajectory of Duran’srelationship with Felicidad Iglesias (Ana de Armas), history of late-20th-century U.S.-Panama relations, namely in the political gamesmanship around the Panama Canal. But Jakubowicz mostly focuses on the role of Arcel in focusing Duran to achieve his greatest wins and tragically failing to do so in his greatest loss (remembered in boxing history as the “no mas” fight). Both involve competitor Sugar Ray Leonard, convincingly portrayed by Usher Raymond.
Flawed but enjoyable, “Hands of Stone” proves simplistic in dramatic terms and slippery in its point-of-view even as it manages to engage interest. Colorful, kinetic visuals and dynamic sound keep the film more cinematic than the typical sports movie, but above all, the film works as well as it does on the strength of its acting. DeNiro is in fine, grounded form, and his verbal sparring with Ramirez, Blades, John Turturro (representing the mob’s reach into boxing), Reg E. Cathey (as promoter Don King), and, albeit more tenderly, Ellen Barkin as Arcel’s wife elevates the film, the overlapping dialogue highly effective in infusing naturalistic energy.
Each co-star — and, of course, most crucially, the excellent Ramirez, who obviously developed a rapport with DeNiro playing his son-in-law in last year’s “Joy” — goes toe-to-toe with DeNiro in scenes that lend the film much of its entertainment value. “Hands of Stone” may well convince you of little more than that Roberto Duran was a talented boxer and a world-class jerk, but it’s a decently informative biopic about a sportsman under unique pressures.
Rated R for language throughout and some sexuality/nudity. One hour, 45 minutes.
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Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, joined by Deputy District Attorney Alaleh Kianerci, who prosecuted the Brock Turner case, speaks during a press conference outside the Palo Alto Courthouse about proposed legislation that would establish a mandatory prison sentence for sexual-assault crimes on June 22, 2016. Photo by Veronica Weber. -
The exterior of the Palo Alto Courthouse, where Judge Aaron Persky presided over the trial and sentencing of Brock Turner. Photo by Veronica Weber.
