Tyson

 

Story:

From director James Toback comes this documentary feature about the trials and triumphs in the life of famed boxer Mike Tyson. From his salad days with promoter Don King, to his infamous ear-ripping match against Evander Holyfield, to his sexual assault conviction, this film, made with the cooperation of Tyson himself, was culled from more than 30 hours of fascinating interview footage of the notorious heavyweight champion. (Netflix)

Review:

Everyone knows Mike Tyson aka Iron Mike aka Kid Dynamite.  You know he went to prison.  You’ve watched him knock out his opponent’s cold.  You’ve seen him bite off Evander Holyfield’s ear.  You’ve heard him tell Lenox Lewis that he wants to eat his children.  But you’ve never seen or heard Mike Tyson like this.  Just when you think there is nothing he can do that would surprise you anymore, Iron Mike does it once again. The film opens with scenes of Tyson in the ring demolishing fighters with single punches.  The loud music and fight scenes get you ready for a Rocky style movie, and remind you why he was at one time the heavyweight champion of the world.  Then the music fades, the boxing video dissolves, and you’re left in a quiet room with Mike Tyson being interviewed about his childhood.  You’ll hear the story of a shy, scared, chubby kid growing up in the ghetto.  It’s confusing to see this massive man with a face tattoo tell these stories.  It’s not the Iron Mike we’re used to.  But it all starts to come together when he describes the day that he finally decided to stick up for himself. From the start of the documentary, it is surprisingly honest.  Even with Tyson himself signed on as a producer, I never got the feeling that this was a cleaned up, PR version of his life.  The directing and editing doesn’t pull any punches either, tackling every aspect of his life, and pulling the emotions and thoughts from deep inside the warrior.  The editing was especially creative, with Tyson talking over himself, simulating the different thoughts all running through his mind at the same time.  After a while you are inside his mind, which even he would agree, is a crazy place to be.  His jumbled thoughts and words are sometimes unintelligible and other times poetic, but are always entertaining.  Overall, this film hits as hard as a Mike Tyson uppercut, and will leave you thinking about the man in a different way.  He explains everything you want him to talk about, including his story of the Evander Holyfield ear-biting incident, which made me wonder if I would do the same thing.  As he spirals downwards, I realize there are limits to how much I can agree with his choices.  Whether I would ear nibble or not, I was enthralled with the story of the youngest heavyweight champion of the world, and would recommend the film to any boxing fan, or anyone interested at all in Kid Dynamite. 

Reviewed by John Cassaras for Documentary Film Online on November 04, 2009

In Conclusion: