When a prized fighter steps into the ring, the stakes are always high – and a heavyweight championship title could be on the line. But “Iron Mike” is paying dearly for a contest lost outside of the ring – his rage and his own sanity. In Director James Toback’s highly touted documentary, Tyson, moviegoers are given an intimate tour inside the tormented mind of the former heavyweight champion. The film will leave audiences awestruck by the insidious nature of Mike Tyson’s persona and how his untimely decisions led to his downward spiral.
Instead of utilizing an officious voiceover, Toback employs Mike Tyson himself to narrate his own pathos-filled story about a former gifted boxer who lost everything because of anger, paranoia and his treatment of women. The film introduces viewers to the softer side of the boxer as Tyson recollects his long-time trainer, Gus D’Amato who was very much a guardian and father-like figure to him. D’Amato taught Tyson discipline both inside and outside the sport of boxing, which he sorely lacked due to his upbringing in the poorest districts of Brooklyn, New York.
Under the direct tutelage of D’Amato, Tyson channeled his athleticism and anger in the ring, which helped him become the youngest boxer to win the WBF, WBA and IBF world Heavy Weight Titles to date. After D’Amato’s death, Tyson unraveled, feeling isolated and without someone to shield him from the pressures of achieving celebrity status. Toback poignantly incorporates footage from interviews with Tyson as a young adult that revealed immaturity and an inability handle the press.
There are some parts of the film that remain nothing short of gut-wrenching and disturbing as Tyson uses this documentary as a forum to publicly refute all assault-and-battery charges stemming from his marriage to Robin Givens. His seemingly half-hearted rebuttals reinforce a message that Tyson remains very demented as he attributes those professional and private setbacks to temporary insanity and immaturity. From his malicious attack on Holyfield (1997) to his rape conviction (1992), Tyson attempts to paint himself as a tragic figure that has been maligned in the press and cheated by those hoping to profit from his professional career. But it’s Tyson’s skewed perceptions of boxing and his life that leave us thinking he is owed a second chance to redeem himself.
Toback’s documentary is not without its flaws. The director utilizes too many artistic editing techniques (e.g., numerous jump cuts) that distract from the boxer’s sometimes-heartbreaking commentary on his life story. But most of the time, the filmmaker’s visual creativity helps assist in providing a portrait of the “Beast” outside of boxing. The film incorporates a number of split screens of Mike Tyson’s face and audio mixes of his voice to uncover the complex persona of one of the most feared and love-to-hate figures in all of sports. Tyson is a definitive knockout and will have audiences squirming in their seats as they watch the former boxer come to blows with his regrettable past.
Grade: A-
In The Spotlight: Tyson (Documentary 2009)
