Big George Foreman, 2023.
Directed by George Tillman Jr.
Starring Khris Davis, Jasmine Mathews, Sullivan Jones, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., John Magaro, Sonja Sohn, Forest Whitaker, Philip Fornah, Deion Smith, Matthew Glave, Sam Trammell, Erica Tazel, Al Sapienza, Shein Mompremier, Robert Cicchini, K Steele, Austin David Jones, Jordan Yarborough, Brian Ibsen, Kei, Judd Lormand, Tom Virtue, Anthony Marble, Jordan Bates, Deneen Tyler, Charles Brewer Jr., Cedric Boswell, DJ Walton, David Jite, Carlos Takam, Barry Hanley, Zephaniah Terry, Philip Craddock, Matt Frost, and Billy Slaughter.
SYNOPSIS:
The life and boxing career of George Foreman.
The best that can be said about George Tillman Jr.’s Big George Foreman (which does not have the absurdly long subtitle The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World anywhere in the film itself) is that Khris Davis gives a mighty performance as the professional boxer turned preacher, effectively playing the legend at different points of his life regarding age and physical appearance. The strong turn comes within a somewhat passable narrative during its first half, functioning as a rise to fame and wealth from nothing generic sports story that, unfortunately, becomes frequently hilariously bad once it pivots into faith-based mode.
Co-writing alongside Frank Baldwin and Dan Gordon, George Tillman Jr. does himself no favors by adhering to the traditional biopic format of attempting to cover too much ground of a famous person’s life. Here, the story starts with a young George, poor and living with his single mother, Nancy (Sonja Sohn), as he and his siblings are forced to divide a burger among themselves for dinner. To the filmmaker’s credit, he visually emphasizes George’s large size from the get-go, whether it be shots of him barely fitting at his desk while next to much smaller classmates or when he is an adult struggling to maneuver inside a telephone booth.
It’s also quickly made apparent that no one necessarily respects George, often bullying him for coming from a poor family and simply being bigger. Respect is also the film’s major throughline, which probably would have fully worked if the narrative wasn’t the tale of two halves where the second half becomes a laughingstock, playing into religious clichés in an overly sentimental fashion (at one point, George says he found God and is physically no longer able to make a fist for boxing, but suddenly comes out of retirement when a sketchy friend mishandles his life savings). There is also a random sense of humor that seemingly comes from nowhere.
The point is that Big George Foreman offers all the clichés. Once George turns of age and finds guidance with the Job Corps, a former boxer turned trainer Doc Broadus (Forest Whitaker) takes notice of his rage (in one case, manifested in the form of chasing someone down for stealing his shoes) and suggests he try out the sport. He believes that in five years, George could be fit for the Olympics. But George doesn’t want to wait long, exclaiming he will be an old man by then. Cue the graphic that says one year later, taking us to George’s 1968 gold-medal win.
That leads to another issue with Big George Foreman: because it’s rushing through the man’s life, nothing feels earned, and it’s hard to feel any stakes. When he becomes heavyweight champion and falls into a life of excess, eventually cheating on his wife, the story doesn’t truly confront that (it might not even want to, choosing to focus on his successes and good deeds). Even weirder, the prolonged faith-based portion seems intent on shaming boxing as a way to make a living, lumping together a sport with real-world violence. It makes for a wildly uneven narrative that never explores any of its characters; the closest thing to a villain here is defined by turning to the camera and taking swigs of alcohol from a flask.
There’s nothing special about the boxing sequences, although one pivotal one against Muhammad Ali (Sullivan Jones, who has the mannerisms and cockiness down to a serviceable extent) has a degree of effort put into it, playing up the strength of George and the patience/endurance of Muhammad Ali. A couple of amusing scenes between them also return to the theme of respect. Everything else in Big George Foreman is an assortment of clichés and corny sentimentalism that lets down an impressive performance from Khris Davis. It’s hard to respect a film so bland, basic, and torn on what it wants to be.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
