3/4
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Starring: William Cayton ‘amp; Mike Tyson
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Directed by James Toback
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Calling Mike Tyson controversial would be an understatement. But it would also be a grave injustice to solely base that opinion on rapid-fire obscenities, rape convictions and a penchant for gnawing on people’s earlobes.
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In maverick writer/director James Toback’s 90-minute documentary, the former world heavyweight champion’ ‘ recounts the tabloid-tainted rollercoaster of events that uprooted him from the life of a lispy Brooklyn hoodlum to that of a brawling celebrity seemingly overnight.
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It’s clear Toback’s hoping to challenge Tyson’s reputation as a predatory pariah in the ring and an even more carnivorous womanizer on the street. However, Toback even goes further, squeezing his button-popping muse into a shirt-and-slacks outfit and landing him on a psychiatrist’s couch for the audience to observe. Just replace a mild-salary shrink’s office with a leopard-print patterned mansion.
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Voluntarily stepping under the microscope for the first time since his 2005 retirement, the crude (yet honest) Tyson discusses his soap-opera marriage to Robin Gibbons, his financial battle with ‘reptilian’ promoter Don King and a case of gonorrhea that burned ‘like a Good Humor in July.’
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And while Tyson’s one-on-one interviews are fine, it’s only through a montage of split-screen news stories (though overused and often headache-inducing), actual ring footage, past weigh-ins and photos that Toback’s able to surpass an ESPN profile and get at the heart and musculature of the man who gave meaning to the phrase ‘expect the unexpected.’
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Believe it or not, behind the perspiring brow dominating the top half of the screen throughout the film (try counting the pores for fun), is a lover ‘mdash; not a fighter.
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A misunderstood youth who feared confrontation, Tyson explains early on in the film how his first fight started after a neighborhood bully killed his favorite pigeon. And it’s that kind of sentimentalism that seeks to rethink the burly brute as a ruthless contender who’s maintained an ‘awww’ factor still today.
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When describing his tattoos ‘mdash; a Maori-inspired coil on his left eye, a belly sketch of Che and a shoulder bust of Mao ‘mdash; Tyson first speaks of scaring enemies and spitting at the government, only to rescind his pearly fangs with a touching truth: ‘Originally, I wanted hearts.’
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Amid the ‘I’ll eat your children!’ threats scattered throughout his memoir (that’d prove otherwise), the now father of six actually makes a convincing case for himself as a victim of circumstance.
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Sprinkled with invasive closeups exposing the seemingly indestructible warrior’s identity crisis as he soul-sifts through a lifetime of devastating decisions, Tyson’s most sincere stories are the ones about his late trainer (and beloved father figure) Constantine ‘Cus’ D’Amato.
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When reliving the bond he shared with D’Amato up until his death in 1985, Tyson asks a puffy-eyed audience to wait patiently in pin-drop silence while he chokes on hard-pressed tears and sniffles his way back to composure. In this oversized vulnerability, Toback exploits his subject’s icebox with unassuming angles and home videos that certainly give the film much-needed nuance.
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Though, for all its gore and extorted empathy, the frustratingly staged portrait of Tyson staring out at the ocean in an all too familiar self-reflective trance is also part of the bargain. Shot with voiceover narration, his sunset-framed silhouette is one of many recurring motifs that will make you wonder when Toback will cue the seagulls.
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As a visual representation of the boxer’s internal struggle to reconcile his multiple personalities, the documentary in sum is a 12-step program introducing Mike Tyson: the lost youth, the world-renowned fighter, the masochistic philanderer, the raging bull, the criminal and the doting father to the rest of the world.
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And the therapy session is a jagged one.
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‘ But whether Tyson is sincerely remorseful, Toback’s at least successful in persuading his audience to scrutinize any preconceived notions they had about the boxing icon. And it is only fitting that Tyson, an athlete known for his inclination to spit out quotes like a used-car salesman, articulates the moral of his journey in a single blow: ‘Old too soon, smart too late.’