An Uneven Biopic on the Olympic and Professional Boxing Champion
Big George Foreman (2023)
A Quick Film Review
There is a lot to enjoy about George Foreman - Olympic gold medalist boxer, heavyweight champion (twice!), his rise from a disadvantaged childhood, personable purveyor of healthy-cooking grills - so it's not a surprise that fitting all that depth into two hours or so would be a tall order.
A Quick Film Review
There is a lot to enjoy about George Foreman - Olympic gold medalist boxer, heavyweight champion (twice!), his rise from a disadvantaged childhood, personable purveyor of healthy-cooking grills - so it's not a surprise that fitting all that depth into two hours or so would be a tall order.
Unfortunately, bio-pic Big George Foreman (subtitled with the mouthful, The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World) doesn't deliver much punch as it presents an overview of his remarkable career.
Sure, it's all there, from his underprivileged upbringing and struggle to fit in, to his turn to Job Corps for direction and finding boxing as a way to a straight life, through his up and down career, and his turn as a preacher, and back in the ring again (and again) while juggling entrepreneurship.
Iconic moments along the way, though, just aren't delivered with the drama of the actual moments. His surprise Mexico City 1968 championship at just 19-years-old over the more highly regarded Jonas Čepulis, not to mention the road in the ring to the Games, is only given a few minutes.
Two other signature ring moments - the 'Sunshine Showdown' in Kingston, Jamaica against Joe Frazier that brought Foreman his first professional heavyweight title and the 'Rumble in the Jungle' in Kinshasa, Zaire against Muhammad Ali in which he would lose that crown - may get slightly more screen time, but not any more heft suitable for their momentous occasions.
Big George Foreman's breeziness settles down best when Foreman, faced with mounting financial trouble, returns to the ring after . Showcasing the remarkable, or, um, miraculous, fight to not only get back into shape after ten years of retirement but find success in the ring again is the emotional tug of the film, and the payoff for the first hour and a half.
It's a shame the bulk of Big George Foreman doesn't present the same engagement in its earlier stages. Perhaps that's emblematic, though, of Foreman himself - a champion who maybe didn't find his own heart in the ring until later in his boxing career. His journey really is a compelling story...I just wish Big George Foreman delivered that more.
Sure, it's all there, from his underprivileged upbringing and struggle to fit in, to his turn to Job Corps for direction and finding boxing as a way to a straight life, through his up and down career, and his turn as a preacher, and back in the ring again (and again) while juggling entrepreneurship.
Iconic moments along the way, though, just aren't delivered with the drama of the actual moments. His surprise Mexico City 1968 championship at just 19-years-old over the more highly regarded Jonas Čepulis, not to mention the road in the ring to the Games, is only given a few minutes.
Two other signature ring moments - the 'Sunshine Showdown' in Kingston, Jamaica against Joe Frazier that brought Foreman his first professional heavyweight title and the 'Rumble in the Jungle' in Kinshasa, Zaire against Muhammad Ali in which he would lose that crown - may get slightly more screen time, but not any more heft suitable for their momentous occasions.
Big George Foreman's breeziness settles down best when Foreman, faced with mounting financial trouble, returns to the ring after . Showcasing the remarkable, or, um, miraculous, fight to not only get back into shape after ten years of retirement but find success in the ring again is the emotional tug of the film, and the payoff for the first hour and a half.
It's a shame the bulk of Big George Foreman doesn't present the same engagement in its earlier stages. Perhaps that's emblematic, though, of Foreman himself - a champion who maybe didn't find his own heart in the ring until later in his boxing career. His journey really is a compelling story...I just wish Big George Foreman delivered that more.
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