"Ringside" (2019 release; 94 min.) is a documentary about the life and times of two Chicago Southside boxers. As the movie opens, we see clips of 2 kids, Kenny Sims Jr. and Destyne Butler Jr., then 12 and 13 years old, who are already making a name for themselves as young boxers. We then go to "A Few Years Later", when they are 16-17 years old. Kenny is getting ready for the London Olympic Trials in August, 2011 in Mobile, AL. We also learn that Destyne is serving a minimum of 4 years in jail resulting from several residential burglaries... At this point we are less than 15 min. into the movie. What will become of Kenny and Destyne? To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from German filmmaker Andre Hormann. Here he takes the long view as he follows two young boxers, kids really, who are both coached by their fathers and see boxing as the (only?) way out of the hood in Southside Chicago. This documentary was filmed over a period of 8 years (2011-18), if you can believe it. It is one reason why watching this is so compelling, but it comes with an asterisk: 8 years are condensed into 95 min. Just think about that. While it surely wasn't the intent of Hormann and his team when they started this project, the movie also makes some compelling social commentary in this era of Black Lives Matter.
"Ringside" premiered earlier this month on Showtime, and I recently caught it on SHO on Demand. So glad I did. It doesn't matter in the least if you care for boxing (I really don't), as this movie is much more than a sport documentary. It is a documentary about black youth in the hood who are desperate to better the lives of themselves and their families, and who see boxing as the one (and only?) way out. If you have any interest in social issues, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
