BIG GEORGE FOREMAN Review: Biopic of Legendary Boxer that Only Goes the Distance

After several postpones, the George Foreman biopic finally saw the light, albeit making less noise than it deserved, shyly passing through movie theaters with little impact. The truth is that this sports drama about one of the best boxers in history suffers from the handicap of trying to condense a lifetime into just two hours, telling the story in a rush, requiring the complicity of the spectator who knows the story beforehand to can be fully enjoyed. This journey begins from his years of poverty and youth, showing his beginnings in boxing, taking us from his first triumphs winning Olympic gold, to his unstoppable career as a professional boxer until his fall into hell in the mythical Rumble in the Jungle, where Muhammad Ali dethroned him by making him descend into the hells of defeat, from which he only managed to get out by embracing the Christian faith, trading boxing gloves for the Bible to become a preacher, in that second act of the film, the pace drops too much, luckily in its third act, the plot picks up when a forty-year-old Foreman is shown returning to the ring to achieve the great miracle of becoming the oldest heavyweight champion in boxing history at 45 years old.

A correct biopic that wins on points, without being a knocked out, A well filmed feature, that faithfully recreates his epics bouts in the ring, displaying a very good recreation of the different epoques that the story goes through, although some of the casting choices for the historical figures that appears throughout the film, such as Ali, or Joe Frazier, are difficult to associate due their little physical resemblances, especially, Khris Davis, on the role of George Foreman, who still delivers a convincing portrayal of the former HW champion, on the other hand, was very wise choosing Forest Whitaker as his coach, despite not having the screen time that he deserved.

Big George Foreman is a celebration of the life and career of one of the most scary boxers in boxing history, a film that  seeks to become an inspirational tale of overcomig, but comes up short on reach the same impact that Foreman´s fists provoked on boxing audiences some decades ago.