At first Ringside may come across as a typical inspirational sports documentary that's meant to make you feel empowered and ready to face all challenges in your life. In essence Ringside definitely is just that. What makes this movie compelling and exciting is the fact that we follow these two main characters over multiple years up close. We see their highest highs and lowest lows and understand their strengths and weaknesses. The story focuses on two young boxers: Kenneth Sims Jr. and Destyne Butler Jr. who shared a rivalry as children and made National Headlines for being potential up and coming superstars. Both of them start out at a low point in their lives, especially Destyne but both gradually pick up the fight to prevail in a world that's pitted against them. Over the course of 4 years the film crew shows us their daily lives and what they have to go through. We understand their world and learn the desperation with what both of these boys are fighting for. This isn't just their dream, to them it's their only chance to make something of their lives. The documentary is very intimate and we see this community of African Americans as more than just a statistic but rather as a group of people that are suffering under a corrupt political and societal system. The documentary gives insight into the many amounts of police brutality and injustice people in their community had to face. It allows one to reflect on their lives and re evaluate the idea on whether we reached the world stage that Martin Luther King Jr. expected from all of us. But the movie isn't just a sad and frustrating burden, it is also filled with scenes of motivation and humour, reminding us that there is always hope, even in the most dire moments. This was a smart way of tackling this subject matter, show audiences the truth but also show them that not everything is dark and sad. If I had to point out a flaw with this film is that the pacing of the story is often too fast. We make large time jumps often not being reminded by the director and therefore we can lose track on what happened. However I'd imagine with 4 years worth of material you had the opportunity of making a film 3 hours long, which is certainly understandable why this film may feel a little bit jumbled.
