Big George Foreman
Original title: Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World
The life and boxing career of George Foreman.The life and boxing career of George Foreman.The life and boxing career of George Foreman.
Dwayne Barnes
- Dick Sadler
- (as Dwayne Lamont Barnes)
K Steele
- Gloria Foreman
- (as K. Steele)
Austin David Jones
- Teenage George Jr.
- (as Austin D. Jones)
Philip Fornah
- Sonny Foreman
- (as Philip Allin Fornah)
10 Films That Inspired Director George Tillman Jr.
10 Films That Inspired Director George Tillman Jr.
The director of Big George Foreman breaks down ten of the films that inspired him to become a filmmaker.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen he fought Michael Moorer in Las Vegas, George Foreman wore the same red trunks that he wore in the Rumble in the Jungle in Kinshasa, Zaire (now DR Congo) in 1974. That legendary fight was the climactic scene of Muhammad Ali's biopic Ali (2001) with Will Smith as Ali and Charles Shufford as Foreman and remains Foreman's only loss by knockout. Furthermore, in both the Rumble in the Jungle and Foreman vs. Moorer, the older challenger was trailing the younger and undefeated champion on all of the judges' scorecards late in the fight before winning by knockout. Foreman's victory made him the oldest world heavyweight boxing champion in history at 45 years and 360 days, which beat Jersey Joe Walcott's old record by eight years and is a record that Foreman still holds. Since then, only Vitali Klitschko has been a world heavyweight champion aged 40 or older. Furthermore, Bernard Hopkins and Archie Moore are the only world boxing champions in any weight class at an older age than Foreman was after Hopkins beat Jean Pascal in 2011 for the light heavyweight championships.
- GoofsPleasanton, California, where the Job Corps camp is located, is in a valley, nearly surrounded by hills and mountains. There are none to be seen in the film.
- Quotes
George Foreman: Anger was my answer to everything. I couldn't stop myself from fighting. It was the only thing I did well.
- ConnectionsFeatured in 2023 NFL Draft: Day One (2023)
- SoundtracksLife
Written by Nichols Phelps and Brent Lindsay
Performed by Brock Hudson
Courtesy of Glow Music Group
Featured review
The story is compelling, but the film lacks some character.
George Foreman is a hugely impressive man, of that there is no question. What he achieved in the sport of boxing is truly phenomenal and deserves to be committed to film. However, a remarkable life does not necessarily make a remarkable film, and that is painfully evident with this biopic.
For a two hour film it feels excruciatingly long. The pace is ploddy and lethargic and it is a real chore at times. There's a lack of creative or visual flair in the filmmaking which doesn't help with this issue. The boxing sequences are also relatively flat which doesn't help either.
In terms of the story, it is very interesting. I knew next to nothing about Big George before watching this film, so learning about his rise in boxing was really interesting, but the story isn't overly well told. It zips past too many areas and lingers in others for too long. It is always difficult with a biopic deciding which areas to focus on across an entire life, and I don't think this one gets it quite right.
I wasn't entirely convinced with the lead performance either. Khris Davis is a fine actor I'm sure but too often he just felt off. I can't put my finger on it but it just doesn't work.
Quite often the tone felt off as well. The initial half an hour or so was incredibly cheesy, with really quite poor dialogue.
As negative as all of that sounds, I did enjoy this film. It isn't overly well made and feels pretty clunky in parts, but it's hard to ignore how fun and engaging the story is. When you have such a brilliantly interesting man at the centre of your biopic, it's hard not to make a compelling film. Despite its lack of flair, this is still a solidly engaging biopic.
For a two hour film it feels excruciatingly long. The pace is ploddy and lethargic and it is a real chore at times. There's a lack of creative or visual flair in the filmmaking which doesn't help with this issue. The boxing sequences are also relatively flat which doesn't help either.
In terms of the story, it is very interesting. I knew next to nothing about Big George before watching this film, so learning about his rise in boxing was really interesting, but the story isn't overly well told. It zips past too many areas and lingers in others for too long. It is always difficult with a biopic deciding which areas to focus on across an entire life, and I don't think this one gets it quite right.
I wasn't entirely convinced with the lead performance either. Khris Davis is a fine actor I'm sure but too often he just felt off. I can't put my finger on it but it just doesn't work.
Quite often the tone felt off as well. The initial half an hour or so was incredibly cheesy, with really quite poor dialogue.
As negative as all of that sounds, I did enjoy this film. It isn't overly well made and feels pretty clunky in parts, but it's hard to ignore how fun and engaging the story is. When you have such a brilliantly interesting man at the centre of your biopic, it's hard not to make a compelling film. Despite its lack of flair, this is still a solidly engaging biopic.
helpful•108
- ethanbresnett
- Apr 29, 2023
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $32,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $5,422,462
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $2,925,364
- Apr 30, 2023
- Gross worldwide
- $6,022,387
- Runtime2 hours 9 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
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