I am by no means a Mike Tyson expert, but James Toback’s doc on the fallen heavyweight champ brought very little to the Tyson story I did not already know. Sure, we get to hear about the trials and tribulations Tyson faced starting with his rise to boxing greatness and his subsequent self-destruction directly from the source, but other than a few choked up moments and the emotional story involving him and his late trainer Cus D’Amato, Tyson plays like the troubled boxer is dictating his life story rather than a revealing documentary asking the tough questions.
However, this is not meant to say Tyson is a bad film by any means. “Iron” Mike is undoubtedly an intriguing individual, prime for a documentary of this sort, but based on what is shown on screen I would think a follow-up interview addressing the topics Tyson brings up in this 90-minute monologue would be far more interesting.
Mike Tyson is an intimidating individual, but if I didn’t know anything about him beforehand, seeing him cozied up on a sofa telling his life’s story would be almost unbelievable. Soft spoken and even less intimidating thanks to his soft lisp, you would think this guy is a teddy bear, but when accompanied by savage archival clips from his fights or his profanity laced outbursts, you see a completely different side. This is why the idea of someone ask him the tough questions would be amazing as I could only imagine the interviewer being scared to get too personal.
Instead, Tyson simply talks while pictures and archival footage plays in the background. He talks about drugs, women, sex, violence, money, Don King, Robin Givens, Desiree Washington and everything else you can imagine or remember from the man’s career. His candid approach to the subject matter is effective, but without follow-up questions it’s nothing more than old headlines, only this time reported from the source. Some may say this offers perspective, but it is one-sided perspective, which hardly makes it useful.
Tyson obviously regrets a lot of the decisions he has made in his life, but I can’t help believe there is still a fire inside this man and a lot more left to come out. There is still more to be told and this doc only skims the surface. Was Toback too scared to dig into the stories Mike was telling? It would be understandable if he was. Perhaps there is more to each story that was left on the cutting room floor? Footage that includes the follow-up questions that should have been asked. If so, will they make it to the DVD?
Mike Tyson bit a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear off, he has some not-too-kind words to say about Don King, he maintains his innocence with regard to the rape charges that had him jailed for three years and yet this doc only mentions these moments no more in-depth than I just did. Tyson is really nothing more than a well-produced refresher, and that’s fine, but I was hoping for something more.
