VoML Postfilm Report: Tyson (2008)

DIRECTOR
James Toback (When Will I Be Loved)

As the opening credits to Tyson roll in, we are shown clips from Tyson's first title fight against Trevor Berbick. In the second round, Tyson stalks Berbick before unleashing a volley of power shots to the bigger man's face. Berbick goes down once but is able to get up. The motivated Tyson once again catches Berbick and drops him with a flurry of haymakers. Berbick attempts to get up 3 times but falls over, his body unable to understand what his brain wants him to do. At 20 years old, Mike Tyson is the heavyweight champion of the world. So begins the legend of Mike Tyson.

Most people know Tyson's story, a kid from New York falls in with the wrong crowd, then the right crowd, then becomes champ, then loses to an underdog, then goes to jail, then gets his crown back, then loses it again and never gains it back. At the apex of his career, he was arguably the most dominant fighter who every lived. Even as his career wound down, he was still the most intimidating. In fact, one of the most telling shots in the film is a silent Tyson, staring directly into the camera. His eyes alone are framed by the screen, staring like a caged lion. Toback's best work comes in a scene just before a Tyson fight. Mike discusses the anatomy of the prefight staredown. Mike stares unflinching while the other fighter looks at Mike, then quickly glances towards the floor, then looks back up and stares back at Mike. In that split second where the opposing fighter looked down, Mike saw the vulnerability. Toback layers audio of Tyson saying, "He'll fight hard for the first two or three rounds, but I know I already broke his spirit."

Tyson is mostly a string of interviews with Tyson himself, interwoven with clips from his career and older interviews with others. Tyson is pretty candid about his past, showing the good and the bad. There's no doubt that the things that made Mike unbeatable in the ring also made him a hard person to live with and a hard person to be around at times. His vulnerability is put on display within the first half hour as Mike talks about his mentor/manager/trainer Cus D'Amato, the man who got Tyson off the streets for good and probably saved his life. Utterly ferocious, bordering on the verge of a complete meltdown at times, Mike took the ring with an unbridled intensity that may never be seen again.

A ball of contradiction at times, Mike will mention how fearful his walk towards the ring was, afraid to lose, afraid to be embarrassed, while in the next breath he speaks of absolute confidence in himself. Of the rape allegations that landed him in jail, Tyson calls Desiree Washington a "retched swine of a woman" and remarks that he "may have taken advantage of a woman before, but I have never taken advantage of her" without thinking twice about what he said. Fitting that his career went much the same way. While Tyson exploded onto the boxing scene, he went out with barely a wimper. The traits that made him so dominant for years had dimished. Tyson's last round ended with journeyman boxer Kevin McBride leaning on him until he simply sat down at the edge of the ring until the bell rang. When he was asked to return to the ring, Tyson remained in his corner. In the postfight interview Tyson expressed that he no longer had a desire to fight anymore and that he would no longer disrespect the sport by fighting simply for a payday. The film takes an interesting journey not only through the career, but most importantly through the mind of one of the most polarizing athletic figures this world will ever see.

FAVORITE SCENE
Tyson attempts to hold back tears as he discusses his relationship with the late Cus D'Amato.

SEE ALSO...
Man on Wire, ESPN's terrific documentary series 30 for 30

WOULD I PURCHASE IT? No

WOULD I WATCH IT IF I CAME ACROSS IT ON CABLE? Yes

I WILL GIVE A…-PSon