Too Many Plot Points

Hands of Stone has a good story to tell but does it in a very predictable and melodramatic way. The fall of Roberto Durán is portrayed in such a ‘Hollywood’ way, you have to roll your eyes at the desperate attempt for emotional dialogue. The film goes through so many plot points in rapid session, it fails to tell the important details of Durán’S life that makes for a better story. The shaky cam during the fight scenes makes it difficult to follow the action in the ring and they don’t seem greatly choreographed to begin with. Perhaps i’ve been spoiled by films like Creed that came out just last year and that film wasn’t even about a real person. Hands of Stone feels like it doesn’t have enough of a coherent message to portray exactly what it wants to be as a film. The acting is fine, the visuals of 70s Panama and 80s New York City is great. Hell, you even get a decent Don King impersonation but it is poor writing and a poor narrative that weighs down the film. Hands of Stone is a missed opportunity to cover the life of one of boxing’s most influential figures and it’s a damn shame.

https://societyreviews.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/hands-of-stone-review/