Issue date: 5/15/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Courtesy photo, Sony Classics

When I think of Mike Tyson I think of the high pitched voice, the ear-biting incident and the demise of a once great boxing icon. After watching the stylized and incomplete biopic of his life, "Tyson" I am left with many more thoughts of the former champion.

The movie "Tyson" gives you a firsthand account of Mike Tyson's life as told by none other than Mike Tyson himself. Director James Toback left almost all the dialogue up to Tyson with archival footage of old fights and interviews spliced in along the way. This style of story telling is effective but is also fundamentally flawed in that we only hear and see what Tyson wants to tell us.

From the start of the film we learn about Tyson's childhood growing up on the mean streets of Brooklyn and his seemingly inevitable trip to juvenile hall. While there he met former boxer Bobby Stewart who subsequently introduces him to Constantine or "Cus" D'Amato. D'Amato practically adopts Tyson and by the age of 19 is already becoming a boxing phenomenon. With the strict supervision and guidance of D'Amato, Tyson quickly rises to the top of the boxing world. It is apparent by his own words and actions that when D'Amato passes away Tyson was never the same.

He won, in extremely convincing fashion, many fights, but his focus and drive were replaced with women and fame. These vices led to his eventual downfall, including serving three years in prison after being convicted of the rape of Desiree Washington. It was in these moments where this movie could have shined. Had Toback dug deeper into Tyson's past and made him confront his demons, a real picture of the man would have come through. Instead we are left with a few passing derogatory swipes at Washington and no real insight into the man.

Another distracting part of the movie, which is no fault of Tyson's, is the way the movie was put together. There are several scenes of Tyson walking along a deserted beach with his own voice dubbed over the supposedly moving and self-reflective scene. A documentary is supposed to show someone in their own skin. It should show someone in their natural environment not in some contrived empathy inducing scene. This trite attempt by Toback to bring some humanity to Tyson's story made me cringe more than the footage of Tyson biting Evander Holyfield's ear.

Overall it is hard not to feel for Tyson. His meteoric rise to the top of the boxing world and his ferocity in the ring made him one of the most recognizable names in pop culture history. He came from nothing, got everything and lost it all. When it really comes down to it, I still can't decide if he wanted a shot at redemption or a shot at another paycheck.



Matt Rascher can be reached at mrascher@statehornet.com

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