GEORGE

IN REVIEW

LIFE INTERTWINED WITH PROFESSIONAL BOXING

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

The fight for the world boxing heavy weight championship title was one of the greatest sports showcases in the world during the 1960s and the decades before.

The story of George Foreman though is more of a story of redemption than sports, although the boxing narrative drives the film, Big George Foreman (2023).

Director George Tillman Jr. follows a linear narrative by intertwining the boxing narrative with the story of George as a young child on the poor side of the streets in Houston, Texas to the world heavyweight champion on a global stage.

Tillman previously directed the biopic story of American rapper Christopher Wallace in Notorious (2009).

Tillman shows experience as a director by making the camera paint the story in certain parts, like zooming the lens in before breaking to a next scene in front of the characters moving forward.

This technique creates the movement of a boxer dancing with his opponent in the ring as the trainer and the fighter become emphatic about the task ahead.

The story begins with a young George Foreman struggling to stay in public school particularly when his mother does not have enough money to send him off each day with something to eat for lunch.

Poverty and not having enough to eat a proper meal is a recuring theme in the film, which is shown to provide motivation for the young George Foreman to continually move forward eventually into professional boxing.

God and his mother’s stern discipline shows the black American family as a matriarchically structured family with good young boys and girls ever fearful of their mother’s scolding.

Sonja Sohn does a good job showing Ms. Foreman as a hard working, loving and God fearing Christian doing her best for her children as a single mother.

The underlining theme during the first act of the film is to “finish what you start”, such as staying in school until school is finished, which George does not do.

Khris Davis portrays George Foreman as a gentle giant with a bubbling anger inside that requires a bit of redemption.

Mistakes are made along the way that are shown to be deeply regretted, but often provoked through bullying of white boys of a big black boy. Racism is not necessarily the cause as much as the awkward fit in social setting such as in the bunk house.

Eventually Davis must share the stage with Forest Whitaker who plays Foreman’s trainer and mentor, Doc Broadus.

Whitaker pulls up that authoritative persona for that character who is not at the center of the stage, but who enables other characters to maintain a presence there.

When Foreman begins to fight professionally, Davis must share the spotlight with Sullivan Jones, who portrays world heavy weight champion Mohammad Ali as a slightly toned down version in private settings of that public personality everyone became familiar with either to love or to hate.

The cast includes performances by actors of popular entertainment personalities of the era such as Matthew Glave portraying ABC sports broadcaster and colour commentator Howard Cosell, and Tom Virtue as late night talk show host Johnny Carson.

The key element in the boxing film genre is fulfilled with the love interest becoming an important dynamic in Foreman’s professional and private life. The global sport star becomes a bit of a magnet for infidelity.

But the film turns around when George has a near death experience after a professional fight. George still has a professional boxing career ahead of him, but he chooses a different path after being released from his inner rage by the presence of Jesus Christ within him.

George eventually finds total redemption as a Christian pastor, but he still makes very regrettable mistakes along the way.

Big George Foreman is streaming on AppleTV in Canada.