You won't find a better example of a 'Marmite' movie – one that is loved by some and hated by others – than the 2023-released biopic on boxer George Foreman, which returned to the Netflix catalogue last week. On Rotten Tomatoes, Big George Foreman has a Popcornmeter (audience) rating of 96 per cent yet a Tomatometer (critics) score of just 46 per cent.
Whether or not you fall for the movie's comeback tale charms and boxing history, this is a classic sports story to tell. The critics didn't rate its unoriginal storytelling format way, but if you care more for the man and the sport than filmmaking frills and flair, you may well fall into that high rating group.
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A tale less told
The name George Foreman is often associated with 'the guy who out-fought Mohammed Ali'... and who launched a healthy grill system in his later years. But there's more to the man behind the gloves and his career, as this biopic examines.
The reality is that he is one of the most impressive boxers who has ever lived. When you're boxing at a time when Ali was at his height – and in the shadow of a self-selling machine – it was always going to be difficult to be seen.
Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World, to use its full title, gives the Foreman story a chance to be heard in a way that doesn't centre on Ali. Of course, Ali does feature, as does that fight, but this is a true comeback story that begins during his childhood of poverty – his situation fuelled his passion for the sport – and leads to his Olympic Gold win, at a time when boxing was becoming centre stage in the world.
Throw in a near-death experience and the life-changing effect it had on Foreman, and you have a compelling biopic, no matter how it is told. Starring George Tillman Junior, Khris Davis, Forest Whitaker and Jasmine Matthews, this super-strong cast transports you back to a golden era of boxing through this fascinating true story.
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