In My Corner . Austin Chronicle . 03-29-99

In My Corner

DIRECTED BY: Ricki Stern

REVIEWED: 03-29-99

Ricki Stern's documentary follows the volatile career and emotional development of streetwise young boxers Joey and Jose, as well as Angel and Luis Camacho, the men in their corner -- not only in the ring, but also in life, where they have devoted their time, energy, and most crucially, heart to bringing kids off the street and redirecting their fury and competitiveness toward winning bouts. Stern depicts the men less as mentors per se, and more as surrogate fathers to boys who desperately need that grounding. And as in real families, we find father and son frequently at odds. For charismatic Joey, the struggle is for what he truly wants, a question few adolescents can answer, and so we watch him develop from an 11-year-old with national titles on his mind to a teen tired of sacrificing time with friends and girls to spar at the gym. For quiet, explosive Jose, the battle is a darker one, as he struggles daily to transcend the brutality of his past and in himself. Although these men and their struggles are painted as heroic, Stern weaves in enough ambivalence about the characters and the role of the gym to make the documentary inspirational yet at times frustrating and disappointing, a story which, in the end, can only offer what the gym itself can: the possibility of hope.

--Sarah Hepola

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