Big George Foreman Review

George Foreman was one of the most famous boxers of all time and he came in an era of legendary boxers like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. He gets a biopic that looks at important moments in his life with Big George Foreman.

As a child, George Foreman (Khris Davis) grew up in poverty in Houston and was constantly getting into fights. At the age of 18, Foreman gets a last chance when he enrolls in the Job Corp and meets Charles “Doc” Broadus (Forest Whittaker), a boxing trainer and former professional boxer. Together they form a partnership that sees Foreman conquer the boxing world twice, once in the ‘70s, and again in the ‘90s at the age of 45.

Boxing has several advantages when it gets put to screen. It’s a cinematic sport, a working-class sport where many of the competitors have had hard lives, and allows for an underdog story. It’s easy to think of films like the Rocky/Creed franchise, Cinderella Man, The Fighter, and Bleed for This that have this narrative. There have also been many biopics about legendary boxers like Raging Bull and Ali. Big George Foreman had stiff competition.

Big George Foreman fell into the trap that many biopics fall into: it tries to cover too much in too short a space of time. It felt more like recent music biopics like Respect and I Wanna Dance With Somebody where they spanned a long period of time, and despite having runtimes that were over two hours, they whizzed by way too quickly. Big George Foreman had material for multiple films.

Big George Foreman rushed through many major events. An example of this was when Foreman was first introduced to boxing at the age of 18 and became an Olympic gold medallist when he was 19. His rise and comeback were also looked at very quickly. Foreman’s attainment of the Heavyweight Belt at the age of 45 was handled within 20 minutes. This could have been the second half of another boxing film. The story can write itself: Foreman finds out he’s broke and must go back to boxing, forcing him to get back into shape, and work his way up the ranks to become a contender again.

Big George Foreman was directed by George Tillman Jr., best known for directing the Young Adult drama The Hate U Give. He did attempt to bring a little flash and style to the film, like a transition from Foreman speaking to Doc to fighting at the Olympics. The fight with Muhammad Ali, the famous Rumble in the Jungle, was the best boxing sequence in the film as Foreman used his strength to take down Ali and the legendary boxer took the punishment.

Affirm Films was one of the production companies involved in Big George Foreman. This was important because Affirm Films was Sony’s Christian film division. Big George Foreman was a faith film as well as a sports film. Faith was a theme throughout the film. Foreman’s mother (Sonja Sohn) was a Christian who often prayed and said grace before meals. Foreman was dismissive until two incidents that changed his outlook. It leads to a change in Foreman’s personality where he went from an angry man looking for respect to becoming a more mellow, and pious man who settled down.

The film was more aggressive with its Christian themes as it progressed. The first time was when Foreman finally broke down and prayed for a family member and the second was when he had a near-death experience. The born-again imagery was obvious when Foreman showered to cleanse himself. A big portion of the film was when Foreman became a preacher and used his wealth to open a community centre for teens. The film was saying that religion made Foreman charitable, and wiser, and made him into the likable, charismatic figure he became known as.

The other thematic throughline in the film was respect. Foreman craved respect throughout the film and hated being mocked. He was mocked as a child for being poor, mocked when he started boxing because he didn’t know what he was doing, and even when he found success he was mocked. Foreman was seen as a sell-out for waving the American flag at the Olympics and Ali riled Foreman before their fight in Zaire. Foreman only gained respect when he found religion and during his boxing comeback.

As a leading man, Davis was a mixed bag. He was stiff playing the younger version of Foreman, but he grew into the role as the character got older, chubbier, and cuddlier. The most impressive members of the cast were Whittaker and Sullivan Jones. Whittaker provided a lot of gravitas which was needed considering Foreman needed a strong mentor. Jones did a great job impersonating Muhammad Ali, having the boxer’s cockiness and sense of bravado and at times the audience could share Foreman’s hate for him.

Big George Foreman was a perfectly serviceable if unremarkable biopic. It doesn’t match up with the great boxing films, but it was a perfectly watchable and functional film.