This documentary is the heartfelt and honest story of Mike Tyson's life. He narrates his years as a kid growing up in Brooklyn, New York - a juvenile delinquent willing to fight anyone right through to his rise to become the youngest heavyweight champion of the world. As he explains his thoughts, we follow him through addictions, a publicized marriage and divorce, a rape conviction and jail time, ending with a simple man speaking of simple lessons which he never learned.
A life of crime is replaced by the love of a boxing manager
As a kid, a counselor at the juvenile detention center befriended Tyson and sent him to Cus D’Amato to get some discipline by training as a boxer. Tyson is welcomed into Cus’s home and although he was tempted to burglarize the place, he responds to Cus’s encouragement and care. Tyson's raw emotion prevents him from speaking in the documentary when he tells us how Cus gave him the courage to ease his insecurities. Tyson took the heavy weight title less than a year after Cus died.
Tyson's careful eloquence captivates
As Tyson sits calmly in his chair or walks peacefully along the beach, we almost forget his profession was in physically beating his opponents. The boxing footage reminds us. The creative cinematography during his monologue is confusing at first, the screen divided into several boxes each containing a copy of Tyson at different angles, each copy of himself speaking over the other. But when all but one voice fades away, the artistry is appreciated.
As he reflects, he takes us back to his first fights in the Olympics and his numerous knock-outs as a professional. Tyson speaks of his supreme confidence in the dressing room, and his expeditious, robe-less walk up into the ring before he dismantles his opponents with a truly awesome flurry of upper cuts and jabs. Tyson's satisfaction is short-lived, however, and he searches for meaning in other places: women, drugs and alcohol.
In the end, Tyson lies deconstructed
Mike Tyson is a self-aware man who rose up from a scared overweight youth to become a feared fighter. Although he speaks of being disappointed in himself at the end of the movie, we see a man who has come to accept his life. We appreciate that his ferocious fighting skills came with an emotional suffering, and with the caring direction of a few men from his youth, he became one of the best boxers of all time.
Ara Bedrossian - He has a Masters in Public Health from the UT College of Medicine and has been contracted by the state of Ohio to improve public health ...
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