Tyson

Director: James Toback
Cast: Mike Tyson
DVD release: 3 December 2009
Rated: M

Mike, uncovered

Basically your ‘talking head’ TV doco jazzed up with some split screen and tricky sound to make it cinema friendly, Tyson is 90 minutes of controversial boxing legend Mike Tyson regurgitating his life in considerable detail. In his soft mumble hardly pausing for breath, Tyson finally offers regret for his sex and drug lifestyle, although he wallows in the telling. Now we’re lead to believe he’s no longer a nut case and will be a loving family man. This is a film with most appeal to his fans and those enthusiasts of the boxing ring.

Tyson says himself he’s a great talker, proving that to be absolute truth. Despite liberal dabs of whitewash, you may think Tyson comes across as egotistic, self-pitying champion with a brutal streak. The notorious and infamous from Attila to Hitler have a bizarre fascination, and Tyson is no exception. He certainly gets inside your head after an hour and half of non stop verbiage. You have more sympathy for the tough guy with the quiet voice in his early history.

Tyson was brought up in a rough Brooklyn neighbourhood and targeted by local bullies. His mother was promiscuous; he doesn’t seem sure who his father was. When a lout kills one of Tyson’s pet pigeons, he finally decides to fight back taking pleasure in bashing up the thug. This starts him on an aggressive path. Arrested at 12 for being in a dope dealing racket, he comes to the attention of elderly boxing promoter Cus D’Amato who takes him under his wing and trains him to be a successful fighter. Encouraging the young Tyson is the motivation keeping the aging Cus alive. The old guy much loved by Tyson snuffs it in the next reel to some dewy eyed moments in the most compelling part of his monologue.

What follows are clips from a series of Tyson’s fights over the next few years, including his debut fight with Hector Mercedes, defeating Mercedes in the first round; then his heavyweight title bout in 1986 when he defeats Trevor Berbick to become the youngest champion at just 20 years old.

Later in 1991 Miss Black America, Desiree Washington, accuses Tyson of rape. Convicted, he goes to prison for four years. With further bouts to his credit and some defeats, he marries Monica Turner in 1997 and that year faces Evander Holyfield in a rematch where the notorious ear biting incident took place. His last appearance in the ring is 2005, when he fails to come out for the seventh round in a match against Kevin McBride.

With surprising candour, Tyson discusses his expensive lifestyle and sexual exploits including some details we may not wish to know, such as suffering the pain of gonorrhea during a major fight. He explains his well-publicised divorce because they were both too young, although his promiscuity also seems a major factor. He chats candidly about the ear biting incident and his battle with drugs. None of this endeared him to me, but his fans may be suitably enthralled.

Director James Toback (When Will I Be Loved), obviously a huge devotee of Tyson, never ventures the hard questions, making it an easy ride for his subject. Toback does what he can to keep the film portrait visually appealing by “serving the thematic complexity and multiple layers of character and behaviour by splitting the screen in to separate images moving in shape size and rhythm... by overlapping sources of dialogue and music”. Others might argue this exotic visual treatment actually distracts, although it breaks the standard talking head pattern often leading to boredom. Extreme closeups are frequently used to heighten the emotional scenes.

The archival material is largely TV clips and varies considerably in quality but with gut wrenching moments for fight fans. The interview footage by comparison is well lit and photographed, with the aforesaid tricky optical effects. You can’t doubt the enthusiasm with which the film portrait is made by Toback, yet some might feel it’s misplaced. However there’s no doubt Tyson’s an icon in the boxing world and certainly we gain insights (albeit favourably biased) into the man’s bewildering character.

John Bale

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