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Tyson

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Tyson (2009)

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Reviews Counted:123

Fresh:106

Rotten:17

Average Rating:7.1/10

Consensus: A fascinating, emotional, and frank confessional from Iron Mike that sheds a sympathetic light on one of boxing's most controversial icons.

Australian Rating: TBC

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Australian Theatrical Release:
Aug 6, 2009 Wide

US Box Office: $825,450

Synopsis: Love him or hate him, Mike Tyson is inarguably one of popular culture’s most fascinating figures. In this riveting documentary portrait of the controversial boxer, filmmaker and friend James Toback... Love him or hate him, Mike Tyson is inarguably one of popular culture’s most fascinating figures. In this riveting documentary portrait of the controversial boxer, filmmaker and friend James Toback lets Tyson tell his own volatile story. It all started in a rough-and-tumble Brooklyn neighborhood, where Tyson was picked on and beaten up as a youngster. But when he turned his fear into anger, he realized that his fists had the ferocity to frighten everyone around him. As a teenager, Tyson moved upstate to live with trainer Cus D’Amato, who became the devoted and compassionate father figure he never had. This support helped Tyson develop the strength and focus needed to become a devastating champion inside the ring. But when D’Amato died, something inside Tyson died too, turning him into an even more dangerous monster outside of the ring. As Tyson speaks openly about the ups and downs in his tumultuous life--alternating between moments of sincere introspection and animalistic rage--Toback employs a split-screen approach to further emphasize his emotionally unstable nature. Mixed into this talking-head monologue is striking archival footage that shows Tyson in his prime, when he was one of the most feared and idolized athletes on the planet. TYSON is an appropriately subjective journey into the mind of a massively complicated man. [More]

Director: James Toback

Director: James Toback
Producer: James Toback, Damon Bingham
Composer: Salaam Remi
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

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Reviews for Tyson

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Just relentless lisping monotonous speech that makes the prospect of entering the ring with Mike seem attractive if only because it will be over sooner.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment 3 Comments
08/09/09
Giles Hardie
Giles Hardie
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There is something compelling about the way he presents his version of the stories and scandals that surround him.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
08/07/09
Philippa Hawker
Philippa Hawker
The Age (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In these interviews, there's a strange poetry to the way he talks about his life. I actually found it really moving.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
08/05/09
Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

He’s amazingly frank about some of the people he doesn’t like, and he breaks down when he talks about his friends and the people he loved. A surprisingly fine documentary.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
08/05/09
David Stratton
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tyson is presented via multiple split screen, with relentlessly frank and rhythmic sentences overlapping one another. The effect is mesmerising.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine Australasia | comment Comment
08/05/09
Ed Gibbs
Ed Gibbs
Empire Magazine Australasia
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Brutally honest, Tyson offers one perspective on the life of the boxer – his own. This intimate look is enough to carry the film through its fascinating portrait of the fallen hero.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
08/04/09
Brian Duff
Brian Duff
FILMINK (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This doco goes a little way to portraying Tyson as more human than animal. Iron Mike even sheds a few tears.

Full Review Source: Courier Mail (Australia) | comment Comment
08/02/09
Colin Newton
Colin Newton
Courier Mail (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Toback's approach to Tyson pulls no punches. It is extraordinarily revealing.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
10/19/09
Jennifer Merin
Jennifer Merin
About.com

Utterly absorbing and fascinating, Tyson captivates viewers for its 90 minutes.

Full Review Source: Washington Times | comment Comment
08/30/09
Sonny Bunch
Sonny Bunch
Washington Times

Until I saw Tyson, I wouldn't have believed it possible to film a one-sided documentary that felt truthful and complete."

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
08/29/09
James Plath
James Plath
DVDTown.com

Tyson is indeed an intriguingly contradictory hulk, but he's far from the troubling Caliban Toback's own obsessions with athleticism and negritude make him out to be

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/25/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

Tyson's dissection of his own struggles makes the film hard to turn away from. In that respect, Tyson is a lot like a train wreck. In fact, Tyson's life is like a train wreck in a lot of ways.

Full Review Source: Times-Picayune | comment Comment
08/21/09
Mike Scott
Mike Scott
Times-Picayune
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
08/19/09
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

In the end this is an unflinching portrait of a man, honest and beguiling. It puts Tyson's sins into context, but never excuses him. In a way, it's also a very American story about success from nothing and the double-edged sword of money and fame.

Full Review Source: MovieTime, ABC Radio National | comment Comment
08/07/09
Jason Di Rosso
Jason Di Rosso
MovieTime, ABC Radio National
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...if Tyson never manages to charm us, there are other times when he comes off as touchingly naive. He's uncommonly empathetic to those who might think him a monster. It seems he often sometimes thinks of himself the same way.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
07/24/09
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
07/16/09
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com

Like the heavyweight prize-fighter in his prime, this is documentary stripped back to its leanest form.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
07/04/09
Amber Wilkinson
Amber Wilkinson
Eye for Film

It all adds up to a fascinating psychological study, a film that goes beyond both the public persona and the fighter's own spin to get at the frightened, angry, explosive, yet utterly understandable boy who became a very troubled and very public man.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
06/24/09
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

A one-sided account of Mike Tyson's compelling rise and fall, told by the man who lived the tale.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Weekly | comment Comment
06/15/09
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Charlotte Weekly

The most remarkable revelation of the movie is its subject's thoughtful, reflective eloquence and unflinching self-perception...Tyson may or may not be entirely who he says he is, but he's probably not who we thought he was, either.

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
06/13/09
Jonathan F. Richards
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com
 
 
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