HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Hands of Stone'' is a 2016 American
biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...
sports film about the career of Panamanian former
professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
Roberto Durán Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as wel ...
. It is directed and written by Jonathan Jakubowicz. It stars
Édgar Ramírez Édgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano (, born 25 March 1977) is a Venezuelan actor. Ramírez studied communications at the Andrés Bello Catholic University. He then worked in media and considered becoming a diplomat. When Guillermo Arriaga pra ...
,
Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
, Usher,
Ruben Blades Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugue ...
, Pedro "Budu" Pérez, Ellen Barkin,
Ana de Armas Ana Celia de Armas Caso (; born 30 April 1988) is a Cuban and Spanish actress. She began her career in Cuba and had a leading role in the romantic drama '' Una rosa de Francia'' (2006). At age 18, she moved to Madrid, Spain, and starred in t ...
, Oscar Jaenada and
John Turturro John Michael Turturro (; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, ...
. The film premiered at
Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...
on May 16, 2016 and was released on August 26, 2016, by
The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...
.


Plot

Growing up in
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a List of transcontinental countries#North America and South America, transcontinental country spanning the Central America, southern ...
, Durán is
homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onl ...
by Chaflan, who teaches young Roberto some vital life lessons. Later, Duran joins a boxing club with Nestor "Plomo" Quiñones as his coach. As he reaches 20, an American legendary boxing trainer Ray Arcel, who nearly lost his life after being attacked by an unknown assailant in 1953 in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and is now living with his wife Stephanie, notices Roberto's raw talent and punching power and takes the young fighter under his wing, becoming his coach. Not long after, Durán then meets a student, Felicidad, with whom he later has five children. After his fights through the 70s and 80s, rising through the divisions with phenomenal success (just one loss) he challenges
Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professional ...
, dubbed as the "Fighter of the Year." However, Durán is disrespectful to Leonard, describing him as a "clown" and confidently predicts a knock outwin for himself. One night, Durán insults Leonard in front of his wife by calling him a "homosexual". The incident angers Leonard. Durán's hard feelings for Leonard seem to stem from his resentment of Americans in general, because he recalls the ill-treatment meted out by the Americans to the nation of Panama, remembering how American troops took over the country by owning the Panama Canal—leading to conflict between the sides in 1964. In June 1980 in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
, the day of fight between Durán and Leonard; Durán wins via unanimous decision as a welterweight champion (148–147, 145–144, ). After the fight, Leonard states that being insulted is a strategy and calls for a rematch with an $8 million purse. At the house party, Durán is informed by his manager Carlos Eleta and he reluctantly agrees to the rematch. Chaflan is killed after being run over by a truck. In November 1980, Durán and Leonard face in the ring for the second time, this time the venue is in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
. But in the eighth round, Durán gives up by saying "''No más''" (English: "No more") to the referee, angering the entire Panamanian community, thus Leonard wins via technical knockout (68–66, 68–66, and ). Upon returning home to Panama, he faces angry protests. Durán tells his wife that he regrets letting them down and needs to go back in the ring in order to regain his popularity and the forgiveness of his fans. Due to this incident, Arcel is retired from his training and tells Durán that Plomo will be his coach. In June 1983, New York City, the day of his fight against Davey Moore, Leonard gratefully meets Durán for the first time since the rematch, saying that he forgives Durán. He tells Leonard that he gives his apology to his wife. As the fight with Moore goes up to the eighth round, in which Leonard is the commentator, Durán wins the fight via technical knockout and eventually restores his popularity and dignity with the people of Panama. In the film's
epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the w ...
, it states that Plomo was in Durán's side for each fight until Plomo's death in 2012; Leonard and Durán remain friends until the present; Ray Arcel was the first boxing trainer to be inducted into both the World Boxing Hall of Fame (WBHF) as the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHF). He died on March 7, 1994, at the age of 94 after a six-year battle with
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
.


Cast

*
Édgar Ramírez Édgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano (, born 25 March 1977) is a Venezuelan actor. Ramírez studied communications at the Andrés Bello Catholic University. He then worked in media and considered becoming a diplomat. When Guillermo Arriaga pra ...
as
Roberto Durán Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as wel ...
*
Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
as Ray Arcel * Usher as
Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professional ...
Credited as "Usher Raymond IV". * Oscar Jaenada as Chaflan *
Jurnee Smollett-Bell Jurnee Diana Smollett (born October 1, 1986) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms, including '' On Our Own'' (1994–1995) and ''Full House'' (1992–1994). She gained greater recognition ...
as Juanita Leonard * Ellen Barkin as Stephanie Arcel *
Rubén Blades Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948), known professionally as Rubén Blades (, but in Panama and within the family), is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in th ...
as Carlos Eleta * Pedro Pérez as Plomo Quiñones *
Ana de Armas Ana Celia de Armas Caso (; born 30 April 1988) is a Cuban and Spanish actress. She began her career in Cuba and had a leading role in the romantic drama '' Una rosa de Francia'' (2006). At age 18, she moved to Madrid, Spain, and starred in t ...
as Felicidad Iglesias *
John Turturro John Michael Turturro (; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, ...
as Frankie Carbo * Eliud Kauffman as Margarito Duran * John Duddy as
Ken Buchanan Ken Buchanan MBE (born 28 June 1945) is a Scottish retired professional boxer from Edinburgh and the former undisputed world lightweight champion. Gutteridge, Reg"King Ken, World Champion after a shock knock-down" ''Evening Times'' (Glasgow), ...
* Joe Urla as Angelo Dundee *
Reg E. Cathey Reginald Eurias Cathey (August 18, 1958 – February 9, 2018) was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles as Norman Wilson in ''The Wire'', Martin Querns in '' Oz'', the game show announcer in '' Square One Television'', Dr ...
as
Don King Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing promoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. He has been a controversial figure, partly due to a manslaughter conviction and civil cases against him, as well a ...
(Uncredited)


Production

Production on the film began in December 2013 in
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a List of transcontinental countries#North America and South America, transcontinental country spanning the Central America, southern ...
. Principal photography was completed in March 2014. The film was dedicated in memory of Stephanie Arcel "your legacy is love".


Release

In May 2015,
The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...
acquired distribution rights to the film, with a 2,000 screen commitment. The film was scheduled to be released on August 26, 2016 in 800 theaters before expanding to 2,500 theaters on Wednesday August 31.


Reception


Box office

''Hands of Stone'' was released on August 26, 2016 and was projected to gross around $2–3 million from 810 theaters in its opening weekend. In its limited opening weekend the film grossed $1.7 million, finishing 16th at the box office. In its second weekend, despite being added to 1,201 theaters, the film grossed just $1.3 million, finishing 20th at the box office.


Critical response

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, the film has an approval rating of 44% based on 106 reviews, with an average rating of 5.34/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "''Hands of Stones strong cast and fascinating real-life story aren't enough to compensate for a crowded narrative and formulaic script." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 31 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Owen Gleiberman of
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film) ...
magazine wrote: "Gets the job done, but it's hard to escape the feeling that you're watching a routinely conceived, rather generic boxing flick. It's utterly competent, yet it makes Duran's story seem a little so-what?"


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, 1781827 2016 films 2016 action films 2010s biographical films 2010s sports films American action films American biographical films American boxing films Films set in the 1960s Films set in the 1980s Films set in 1980 Films set in 2002 Films set in the Las Vegas Valley Films set in Montreal Films set in New Orleans Films set in New York City Films set in Panama Films shot in Panama 2010s Spanish-language films Biographical films about sportspeople The Weinstein Company films Cultural depictions of boxers Cultural depictions of Panamanian people 2010s English-language films 2010s American films