Feral Tyson a Mesmerizing Bout
I do not have very much to say about director James Toback’s (Harvard Man) Tyson. A documentary on the titular boxing champion told in his own words and featuring archival footage tracing his growth, evolution, rise and fall the movie is in many ways a thrilling punch to the gut, and those fascinated by the former heavyweight are certain to be more than pleased by what they witness here.
Mike Tyson opens up in Sony Pictures Classics' Tyson
For everyone else, I’m not entirely sure if they’re going to get anything out of watching this or not. While I appreciated the fact Mike Tyson is so willing to lay himself bare to all of Toback’s probing, in some ways the whole thing becomes a bit more than I could handle. Some will view the boxer’s honesty as reason to forgive his numerous failings; others will take his unapologetic nature as confirmation of his continued guilt.
Either way, what must be appreciated is Tyson’s willingness to talk about everything, not shying away from any questions and not backing down from the wrongs he feels were done to him. The best bits revolve around his feelings when his friend and trainer the legendary Cus D'Amato died of pneumonia in 1985, the boxer talking about how he mentally prepared himself the moments before a fight and the frigid bluntness he approaches his feelings towards the ending of his career.
As for his 1992 conviction for raping Miss Black America contestant Desiree Washington, this is unsurprisingly the one area of the film most people are probably going to want to talk about. Tyson does not back down, saying at one point that he, “Took advantage of women before but never of her,” and that she was a gold digger looking for publicity. His fury is palpable and you can feel the rage bubbling up inside of him just at the very mention of her name, and where he is more than willing to accept the blame for his poor performances in the ring or his immaturity during his first marriage to actress Robin Givens you won’t fine either of those things as it relates to this.
Toback keeps things moving flipping back and forth between his interview footage, scenes of Tyson as a youngster, clips of his fights and other newsreel images (like the notorious Barbara Walters interview between himself and Givens) of the boxer over the past two-plus decades. He also overlaps the dialogue every now and then, allowing the film to verbally juke and jab in a fashion quite similar to ones the boxer employed in a fight.
All this said, I’m not entirely sure Tyson is worthy of all the pre-release buzz and acclaim it has garnered. At times it tends to play like an extended public relations video for Tyson, allowing him to say things like, “My sanity was my insanity,” and, “I was old too soon and smart too late,” in order to forgive the missteps he’s made along his life’s journey. Even so, I couldn’t take my eyes off the film, the documentary every bit the galvanizing feral animal the actual man himself was both inside and out of the ring.
Film Rating: êêê (out of 4)
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