Hands of Stone
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: August 26, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
15
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenAug 25, 2016
The acting in all roles is first rate, but in this one De Niro regains the title of undisputed champion. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 25, 2016
Writer-director Jonathan Jakubowicz’s Hands of Stone is a rousing, well-filmed and solid (if at times overly generous to Duran) biopic with a bounty of charismatic performances, two of the sexier scenes of the year, some welcome laughs and a few above average fight sequences. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 25, 2016
The Venezuelan-born writer-director Jonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro Express) knows how to muscle up momentum and bring the best out of actors. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonAug 25, 2016
Isn’t a knockout of a film, but it’s light on its feet and throws a lot of good punches. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 22, 2016
Hands of Stone is still a first-rate boxing picture, a B-movie with just enough A-picture touches to make it sting. Read full review
70
New York Daily NewsJoe DziemianowiczAug 26, 2016
Ana de Armas makes a lasting impression as Felicidad, the angelic girl (her hair is braided, like a halo) who’s the love of Duran’s life. Too bad their relationship is underexplored and left to a quickie montage of baby-making and deliveries. That’s one of the reasons the film’s not a knockout. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinMay 22, 2016
Hands of Stone is far from perfect, but it punches above its weight enough to prevent it from being easily dismissed. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 22, 2016
Hands Of Stone tests how far a film can go solely on heart, and in this case, it turns out to be just enough to overcome biopic conventionality. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiAug 24, 2016
I could watch Ramírez read the phone book, as the old saw goes. He is one of the most vibrant and charismatic actors working today. He infuses Durán with a charm and a recklessness that is tempered by De Niro’s quiet, understated performance, something he can do in his sleep. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 29, 2016
Traditional and uninspired, it does an adequate job of relating Duran’s story but falls short of providing an engaging cinematic experience. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTom RussoAug 25, 2016
The highlight is Duran and Arcel’s bonding in the corner between rounds. We’ll take more of this revealing brand of drama anytime. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 25, 2016
With Hands of Stone, Robert De Niro officially enters his Burgess Meredith-in-"Rocky" phase, bringing the ringside grizzle and rumpled gravitas by the pound. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonAug 25, 2016
Jakubowicz has made a muscular, messy and vulgar film based on a life that has been all those things. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 25, 2016
Helped by good performances from Edgar Ramirez as Duran, Usher Raymond as Leonard and Robert De Niro as Duran’s trainer, Ray Arcel, the film chugs along well enough, but never rises close to boxing films like “Raging Bull” (few films do) or “Creed.” Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanMay 22, 2016
Gets the job done, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that you’re watching a routinely conceived, rather generic boxing flick. It’s utterly competent, yet it makes Duran’s story seem a little so-what? Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyAug 25, 2016
Falls victim to too many trite boxing-movie clichés and is in way too much of a rush to cover too much narrative ground. It sometimes feels like you’re watching it with a finger on the fast-forward button. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireAug 26, 2016
The performances are really strong, though. That’s what’s so frustrating; you just know there’s a better movie in here waiting to burst free. Read full review
50
The New York TimesGlenn KennyAug 25, 2016
Hands of Stone...is absolutely a boxing movie. A corny and sometimes clumsy one, it scatters pleasures here and there, Mr. De Niro’s alert performance among them. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniAug 25, 2016
This should have been an easy knockout. Yet the pieces just don't fit together. Hands of Stone lurches back and forth between well-crafted dramatic scenes and shabby, cliché-ridden sequences that sap the viewer's energy. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubAug 25, 2016
A film that can’t decide whether it wants to be “Raging Bull” or “Remember the Titans.” In the end, it’s a little too much of both. Read full review
50
IndieWireSteve GreeneAug 25, 2016
In trying to squeeze a half-dozen life stories into its running time, Hands of Stone, the new film about legendary Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, magnifies that disappointing mistake. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAug 24, 2016
Somehow, Hands Of Stone even manages to make Don King (Reg E. Cathey) seem bloodless. Read full review
50
USA TodayBrian TruittAug 23, 2016
Even though the film can’t focus on one subject, Hands of Stone does boast notable performances from its leads, especially Ramirez. Read full review
45
TheWrapRobert AbeleAug 24, 2016
Unfortunately, the new biopic Hands of Stone...is too often content to play like a lot of other boxing flicks instead of forging its own path. Read full review
40
Village VoiceVadim RizovNov 2, 2016
The bouts are all muddles lacking sustained choreography or a sense of trajectory, with crowd-reaction shots and sports-announcer voice-over carrying the slack. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfAug 25, 2016
A boxing movie in desperate need of Martin Scorsese (aren’t they all?). Read full review
40
The GuardianJordan HoffmanAug 22, 2016
One sees film-making like this and can only say: no más. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianAug 22, 2016
The Panamanian-born Roberto Duran's story has all the makings of a fascinating film, but Hands of Stone isn't it. Read full review
37
Washington PostStephanie MerryAug 25, 2016
The drama stars Edgar Ramírez as Roberto and Robert De Niro as his legendary coach. The two are exceptionally well cast, but they can’t save an unfocused jumble of a movie that doubles as a cautionary tale about the importance of film editing. Read full review
33
The PlaylistWill AshtonAug 25, 2016
An unsavory, underdeveloped and uninspired bore, it takes too many blows and doesn’t give nearly enough counterpunches. It doesn’t cut. It doesn’t bleed. It doesn’t even hit. Hell, it barely puts up a fight. It comes out the gate frail and disoriented, already down for the count before the picture has started. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithAug 25, 2016
Trite and vulgar boxing flick. Read full review
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