What better way to end the summer than with a boxing movie? Even better, Hands of Stone is an biopic about Roberto Duran, a four-time world champion considered to be one of the best boxers of all time.

But judging by the trailer for the film, Hands of Stone is told from the perspective of trainer Ray Arcel, played by Robert De Niro. In addition to Duran, Arcel trained 17 boxers to championship titles. Naturally, the focus here is on his career with Duran (Edgar Ramirez) — in particular, the Panamanian’s three fights against Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher Raymond). The second was the most infamous, as Duran quit the fight in the eighth round by telling the referee “No mas.”

Here is the official trailer:

It’s easy to poke fun at Usher, but he looks great as Sugar Ray Leonard here. Even if he’s wearing prosthetics to resemble Leonard more closely, he emulates the dancing, showboating style of fighting that frustrated Duran so much. Usher seems to be the highlight of the trailer. Will he be the standout in the film? That’s not necessarily good, if the movie is supposed to be about Duran.

Reviews for the film, which debuted in May at the Cannes Film Festival, were generally positive. The Hollywood Reporter‘s Leslie Felperin praised Ramirez’s performance as Duran, notably in the anger that he always seemed to barely keep contained. Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman noted the simplicty of how director Jonathan Jakubowicz (who also wrote the script) shot the boxing scenes, sticking largely to crane shots and close-ups, rather than getting into the action with hand-held cameras and long takes with no cuts like Ryan Coogler did in Creed.

Both critics, however, say the movie doesn’t go into enough depth with Duran, particularly during the “No Mas” incident.

Hands of Stone is set for an Aug. 26 release.

[The Hollywood Reporter]

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.