| 23 April 2009
This past weekend, at 2am, after 15 hrs or drinking, a drunk bike ride, and a ham sandwich, LWN and I decided to take in a movie. The documentary Tyson, by James Tolback was the obvious choice. The documentary, which debuted at the Cannes film festival, is shot entirely from the perspective of Mike Tyson. Some of you may remember him as the boss of Mike Tyson's Punch Out, but most will remember him as the worlds greatest sports disaster.
Tyson's fall from grace is truly epic. The film comes off as a promotional piece from Tyson himself. It is definitely an effort to portray him in a more sympathetic light. However, the movie did not come off as all too biased. It came off as pretty honest actually. We are seeing Tyson in a light that we haven't before. The director really got some crazy stories out of him. Particularly interesting are the times that Tyson becomes most vulnerable. Even when recalling such incidents, Tyson really has a visible personality change. He becomes a caged animal. His actions, both verbally and physically, change. He is a paranoid person. Fame built him up and broke him down, then gave him a shovel to bury himself with. People took advantage of him, his trust for people diminished, and his lack of any type of restraint would constantly get him into hot water. He has to be one of the worst decision makers ever (face tattoo, nuff said). However, you really cant help but feel bad for the guy. He is a guy that really needs a role model. After Cus D'Amato died, he was lost. Cus D'Amato was his father figure who pulled him out of the gutter, and made him the fighter and man that he was. Tyson breaks down just talking about Cus. You can feel the love he had for the man. I think he was truly the only person that could wrangle Tyson's rage and craziness.
The film take archive footage and crosses it with Tyson being interview about his life. The interview is very recent during a stint at alcohol and drug rehab. Other than archive footage, Tyson's voice is the only one you hear. It's quite odd actually. There is one scene of a beach where Tyson is reciting poetry. There are several scenes with images of Tyson's face cropped next to other images of his face where you hear his voice talking over itself. It's almost insinuating that Tyson has multiple personalities, which probably isn't too much of a reach.
Growing up as a fan of Tyson, its kind of tough to watch. He was such a force, and it's tough seeing him becoming such a joke. The guy lost his $300+ million fortune. He spent time in jail for rape, disgraced himself in the ring, and threatened to eat children. He did everything imaginable to disgrace his image. He was a rock that nobody could come close to beating. Hell, people couldn't even get out of the first round. He thought he was a God in the ring, and he really was. I will always remember the pre-Douglas Tyson.
Now we see an out of shape overweight Tyson sitting in a chair recalling his life and his regrets. He is worn down, he is a shell of himself. His is no longer Iron Mike, he is a soft paranoid rehab Mike. I'm not sure what the purpose of this documentary was exactly. I don't know if it is just a payday for him, or if he wanted people to feel sorry for him. It kind of flies in the face of what Tyson claims he wants people to think of him. He wants people to fear him. This documentary just makes people pity him.
3.5 out of 5 Little Macs
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