''Tyson'' is a 2008

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

about the life of former undisputed heavyweight world champion

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

Mike Tyson. It was directed by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

filmmaker

James Toback James Toback (; born November 23, 1944) is an American film director and screenwriter. His screenplay for ''Bugsy'' won the 1991 Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for best screenplay of the year and was nominated for both the Academy Awa ...

and produced by

Nicholas Jarecki Nicholas Jarecki (born June 25, 1979) is an American film director, producer, and writer best known for his 2012 feature film ''Arbitrage''. Early life Jarecki was born on June 25, 1979 in New York City, to Henry Jarecki and Marjorie Heidsieck. ...

, Bob Yari, and NBA player

Carmelo Anthony Carmelo Kyam Anthony (born May 29, 1984) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been named an NBA All-Star ten times and an All-NBA Team ...

. The film was publicly screened for the first time at the 2008

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

and won the Regard Knockout Award at the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

event. ''Tyson'' was released on April 24, 2009, distributed by

Sony Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produc ...

Synopsis

The documentary is a self-discovery of a Mike Tyson, who reflects on his highly controversial public life. It begins with clips of 20-year-old Tyson's convincing

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

Heavyweight Championship win over

Trevor Berbick Trevor Berbick (1 August 1954 – 28 October 2006) was a Jamaican professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 2000. He won the WBC heavyweight title in 1986 by defeating Pinklon Thomas, then lost it in his first defense in the same year to M ...

, then explores the fighter's upbringing and motivation. It is revealed that he had a dysfunctional family life and difficult childhood in

Brownsville, Brooklyn Brownsville is a residential neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn in New York City. The neighborhood is generally bordered by Crown Heights to the northwest; Bedford–Stuyvesant and Cypress Hills to the north; East New York to the east; Canarsie ...

, where his crimes led him to Tryon School for Boys in

Johnstown, New York Johnstown is a city in and the county seat of Fulton County in the U.S. state of New York. The city was named after its founder, Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Province of New York and a major general during the Sev ...

. A father-son relationship with his first professional trainer,

Cus D'Amato Constantine "Cus" D'Amato (January 17, 1908 – November 4, 1985) was an Italian-American boxing manager and trainer who handled the careers of Mike Tyson, Floyd Patterson, and José Torres, all of whom went on to be inducted into the Internatio ...

, is expressed as Tyson chokes back tears. He reveals his fear that he felt when D'Amato died in 1985. Tyson was 19 years old when he lost the one and only father figure in his life. Tyson eventually unified the WBC, WBA and

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

title championship belts, becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion. This event was the root cause of Tyson's personal issues. Tyson notes that his great stardom at the age of 20 was both a blessing and a curse. From his great achievements at such a young age to the eventual tangled web of his existence, Tyson explains his flaws of mental instability, immaturity, lust for women and fear, all of which culminated into his downfall as a professional boxer. Now having fought and overcome his fears in order to earn his respect, Tyson is shocked by the outcome: a renewed respect for life and family.

Reception

The film received high critical praise, scoring an 85% approval rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes from 138 film critics. It has a score of 83% on Metacritic.

A.O. Scott Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic. He has been chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' since 2004, a title he shares with Manohla Dargis. Early life Scott was born on July 10, 1966 in ...

wrote in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'': "Because it restricts itself to Mr. Tyson’s point of view, toffers a rare and vivid study in the complexity of a single suffering, raging soul. It is not an entirely trustworthy movie, but it does feel profoundly honest."

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyson (2008 Film) 2008 films Documentary films about sportspeople Documentary films about African Americans American sports documentary films 2008 documentary films Sony Pictures Classics films Cultural depictions of Mike Tyson Documentary films about boxing 2000s English-language films Films directed by James Toback 2000s American films