For those of us who never saw the 'No Mas' fight between Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard, either live or in clips, news of Duran's giving up led you to believe (at least me) that he was being sorely outmatched and would have been in danger of being knocked out. The film paints a somewhat different picture, instead suggesting that Duran's quitting in the middle of the ring had all to do with the way Leonard attempted to humiliate him by his showboating and brilliant footwork. Duran took it as a personal affront that Leonard didn't come at him like in the first fight, where it was all ring skill and trading punches. Leonard's loss of the Welterweight title in their first match had to do with his attempting to fight Duran's fight, and not use his own style. So I can appreciate the picture's ability to put that all into perspective.
The first thing that grabbed me in the picture was the physical resemblance of the two actors portraying Duran and Leonard. Edgar Ramirez had an uncanny likeness to Duran, more so than Usher Raymond for Leonard, but still pretty acceptable for the story. Robert De Niro looked nothing like legendary boxing trainer Ray Arcel, but most viewers wouldn't notice that in the picture unless you were a devoted boxing fan. The story traces Duran's rise from poverty in the streets of Panama to the heights of the boxing world, often times revealing his early hate for the United States because of the way his American father abandoned his mother with a handful of kids. When he eventually meets his father, he's taken aback by the man's appearance due to his Mexican heritage. It felt like at this point, Duran's attitude began to change somewhat, particularly with his trainer's belief in him without regard to nationality or ethnicity.
The one thing that didn't compute for me though was the way actress Ana de Armas appeared after having five kids as the wife of Duran. Her stomach was still washboard thin and her figure looked dynamite. It might not have been so noticeable without those poolside scenes, but because they were in there, I just had to shake my head. You know, there's poetic license and then there's realism, so the film managed to cut both ways.
Overall though, without knowing anything about the background of Roberto Duran, I thought this was a competently told story about one of the legends of boxing. The film doesn't shake out as one of the best boxing films ever made, but the emphasis wasn't so much on cinema as it was in telling an effective story. It was gratifying to learn during the end credits that Roberto Duran shared with his home country some of the wealth he accumulated during his long career. The man probably wasn't as bad as earlier portrayed, with the effect of time smoothing out his outlook on the world at large.
The first thing that grabbed me in the picture was the physical resemblance of the two actors portraying Duran and Leonard. Edgar Ramirez had an uncanny likeness to Duran, more so than Usher Raymond for Leonard, but still pretty acceptable for the story. Robert De Niro looked nothing like legendary boxing trainer Ray Arcel, but most viewers wouldn't notice that in the picture unless you were a devoted boxing fan. The story traces Duran's rise from poverty in the streets of Panama to the heights of the boxing world, often times revealing his early hate for the United States because of the way his American father abandoned his mother with a handful of kids. When he eventually meets his father, he's taken aback by the man's appearance due to his Mexican heritage. It felt like at this point, Duran's attitude began to change somewhat, particularly with his trainer's belief in him without regard to nationality or ethnicity.
The one thing that didn't compute for me though was the way actress Ana de Armas appeared after having five kids as the wife of Duran. Her stomach was still washboard thin and her figure looked dynamite. It might not have been so noticeable without those poolside scenes, but because they were in there, I just had to shake my head. You know, there's poetic license and then there's realism, so the film managed to cut both ways.
Overall though, without knowing anything about the background of Roberto Duran, I thought this was a competently told story about one of the legends of boxing. The film doesn't shake out as one of the best boxing films ever made, but the emphasis wasn't so much on cinema as it was in telling an effective story. It was gratifying to learn during the end credits that Roberto Duran shared with his home country some of the wealth he accumulated during his long career. The man probably wasn't as bad as earlier portrayed, with the effect of time smoothing out his outlook on the world at large.