Diana (Michelle Rodriguez in a stunning performance) is a Latina just seething with rage. She's one step away from being kicked out of school for starting fights. Diane's mother committed suicide and her physically abusive father, Sandro (Paul Calderon), favors his son, Tiny (Ray Santiago). At one point, he tells his sullen daughter: "You embarrass me. Sometimes I don't even think you are mine."
Diana's life is turned around one day when she stops in at a boxing gym in Brooklyn. Her brother is taking lessons there but has no real interest in the sport. Diana feels at home in this all male domain. Hector (Jaime Tirelli), a Panamanian immigrant who was once a boxer, volunteers to train her. She has real power but needs to learn balance, control, and endurance. Of course, this only comes with discipline and an iron will to keep working hard.
In her feature film debut, writer and director Karyn Kusama has fashioned a rigorous drama that is at once a sturdy coming-of-age story and a convincing meditation on the ways in which sports can build character. There is also a romantic subplot that really works well. Diana meets and falls in love with Adrian (Santiago Douglas), a featherweight boxer who dreams of becoming a professional. He sees it as a ticket out of a mediocre life in the projects. Adrian and Diana struggle with the meaning of their relationship when they are forced to square off against each other in the ring.
This inner city drama shows the characteristic depth of character seen in films by its executive producer John Sayles, who has a small role as a high school teacher. Diana is the archetypal outsider who finds a constructive way to use her anger and aggressiveness. The movie's finest moments come when Diana's self-esteem takes a giant leap forward. She, like most of us, is at her best when she's doing something she's really good at.