30 for 30: One Night in Vegas (2010)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
ESPN documentary about the connections between Mike Tyson and Tupac Shakur and the events leading up to September 7, 1996. That night, in Vegas, Tyson knocked out Bruce Seldon in the first round and later Tupac was gunned down. There's a lot of good things about this documentary but I'm going to be honest and admit that a lot of it bothered me. I will be honest and say I got sick and tired of hearing all the slavery talk and hearing people compare the boxing ring to a slave auction block. I found comments like that to be rather distasteful and it really took away from anything else that person was trying to say. I thought the film also glamorized by Tyson and Tupac way too much and not once did it ever say that either men were in the wrong. No matter if it was their rape trials or the aftermaths of their actions, there's always someone there to defend them. The film makes the point that both men ended up in prison but then it wants to make the point that both were either framed or they did nothing wrong. Even when there's evidence that says otherwise, the documentary just wants to scream that both men were mistreated. Perhaps the director here should have seen the documentary TYSON and seen that you can respect someone without making excuses for everything they do. I did enjoy seeing Tyson interviewed about the events and we get other key figures including Suge Knight, the man who was driving the car the night the hit happened. Several of Tupac's friends and family members are interviewed and we even get Mickey Rourke who was friends to both men. The documentary does a good job at showing the two men and how their lives came together but for my money it really is sad that the material and events were so sugar coated. The 30 FOR 30 series has been a very hard hitting one but this episode falls short of that.