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Tyson, a documentary directed by James Toback (Bugsy, Two Girls & a Guy, Black & White) is mix of archival footage/photographs and a sit down with Tyson who tells his life story as he sees in an effort to clear the air and tell the real story that isn't spun by the media. It starts with Tyson growing up in the mean streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn in the late 70's and takes us through Mike's time in juvenile detention center learning to box to meeting his mentor Cus D'Amato who rescues him from his criminal lifestyle by shipping him to up state NY and teaching him to be the "Kid Dynomite" 15-18 year old boxing phoneme that eventually becomes the undisputed heavy weight champion "Iron Mike" of the 80s and early 90s that we all know. Mike eventually goes on to touch on all the tabloid friendly parts of his life such as his famed relationship to Robin Givens, his womanizing and drug usage, his time in jail, all his wild pre and post fight interviews, his face tat, and well, you know the rest.
As you can see James Toback is best known for his very average fictional drama films but his first documentary on a Mike whos a buddy of his, is definitely a bright light on his career. Does it live up to the "one of the greatest documentaries ever made" hype that I've heard so many times? I honestly don't think so but this is a very interesting story especially when told by the very interesting character that is Mike Tyson and if you have not seen any of the many biopics made on his life then I would say this is a must see. The only real knock I have on it is Toback likes to use the split-into-three-or-four screens (Black & White too) during Mike's mostly rambling and often crazy/unintentionally funny monologues which are an attempt to spice up these long and kind of random scenes of Mike walking on the beach or sitting in his apartment which gets old and sometimes bothersome. Otherwise this is a great inside view on a mostly interesting story and like boxing or not its great to see such a public figure tell his story with what seems like total honesty whether you believe him or not.
3.5 out of 5 broken ribs due to a right hook body shot
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