Viewed in
2009
Premise
A documentary about Mike Tyson, as he narrates his entire boxing career.
Who should watch
Anyone interested in Tyson.
Thoughts
An engrossing film with a fascinating subject.
Tyson was so interesting of a person, that I watched him talk for an hour and a half without getting bored. I liked the fact that he was very candid and honest about his mentor, his failures, his triumphs, his flaws, his hopes. Turned out he was a very scared person who could not trust anybody. And I believe that.
For the most part, the film makers let Tyson do the talking. I liked the chronological telling of his entire boxing career. I loved the archive footage of him in his youth, as I never really followed the sport, and was speechless by his Godly punching speed.
Part of me was disappointed that he glossed over his rape conviction (in which he denied wrong-doing), but I'm not sure what he could have said that would have been any more interesting. Hopefully justice was served.
If you want to know more about one of the most talented, controversial athletes of the 1990's, there's nothing better than hearing it from the man himself.
What I would change
Reduced the multiple cameras shots and blurring of speeches. Tyson was an incredible presence, and the film makers mostly stayed out of the way. However, they did some hip stuff, by splicing together multiple angles of him talking, a la '24', and overlapping his dialogues together. They were distracting.
Random
Two weird things in the credits. They thanked Brett Ratner, The director of 'Rush Hour'? Huh? Also, why was there a "characters are fictitious" disclaimer. Huh?
