Big George Foreman Review: George Tillman Jr.’s Biopic Is a Big Loss for a Boxing Legend

Across a career that spanned four decades and saw him earn two heavyweight titles and a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, George Foreman cemented his legacy as one of the greatest boxers of all time. But despite having one of the most remarkable stories in sporting history to work with, Big George Foreman manages to stumble sluggishly from one chapter in his life to the next in a way that’s neither insightful nor entertaining.

George Tillman Jr.’s film plays out largely as a by-the-numbers biopic, charting Foreman’s rise from a troubled Texas youth to a title-winning boxer, then a born-again preacher, then a title-winning boxer again. Khris Davis, previously seen testing out his pugilistic skills on poor Donald Glover in Atlanta, plays Big George from the end of his teenage years to his remarkable comeback as the world’s oldest-ever heavyweight champion at the age of 45.

On screen, Davis is an absolute mountain of a man, and he looks sublime in the painstakingly recreated period costumes, all powder-blue suits and scarlet silk shirts. But he struggles to imbue Foreman with any real sense of interiority or even agency, though the blame for that falls squarely on Frank Baldwin and Tillman Jr.’s script. Throughout most of the film, Foreman is portrayed simply as a big lug who makes most of his big decisions—from getting into boxing in the first place to cheating on his wife—simply because someone turned up and suggested it.

Big George Foreman works hard to convince us that the core of Foreman’s story is the rage that drives him into fighting, and it’s an idea that’s simplistically rendered. Even when young George is getting into scraps as a kid, the film makes sure to put him in situations where he’s thoroughly provoked first. No matter how many times other characters or Davis’s voiceover narration lament Foreman’s ferocious temper, the film seems afraid of alienating our sympathies for even a second to ever actually reveal the sharper edges of his character.

This especially becomes a problem when Foreman turns his back on the world of boxing and decides to live a peaceful life as a preacher. Davis seems a lot more comfortable as the cheerful cornball that Foreman becomes following his revelation, but the transformation rings hollow because we’ve never actually felt the anger that he’s supposedly been cleansed of. It doesn’t help that his newfound faith is presented as simplistically as the rest of his character.

Big George Foreman also struggles to bring its lead character to life when he’s in the ring. The film’s fights are shot crisply and cleanly enough, but they never manage to convey Foreman’s awesome physical power. Earlier this year, Creed III offered up an antagonist who channeled Foreman’s style—namely his cross-arm guard and the hulking figure he cut in the ring—and did a far better job of making us feel the bone-cracking power behind each blow.

Big George Foreman’s in-ring action is at its weakest when it comes to Foreman’s iconic bouts against Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali, and Michael Moorer. The sight of Frazier wandering helplessly into Foreman’s walloping blows, Ali overturning the odds with his famous rope-a-dope approach, Foreman winning an even more unlikely battle to reclaim his title 20 years later—the film never manages to conjure the unique drama of these legendary occasions.

In a neat, slightly cruel example of art imitating life, Foreman once again has his show stolen by Ali. Sullivan Jones might not manage to fully evoke Ali’s agility and grace in the ring, but he mimics the iconic boxer’s motor-mouthed antics outside of it perfectly, adding some much-needed energy to a film that starts to tire long before the final bell has rung.