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Movie Review: Big George Foreman

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The full title of the new movie about the incredible life of boxer George Foreman is “Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World” – which seems to be an attempt by the producers to stand out because obviously, “Big George Foreman” is the perfect title for this film.

From watching this very compelling story about the life of George Foreman, what stands out the most is the series of miracles that happened to this man that took him from extreme poverty to the Heavyweight boxing champion at a young age, to then leaving boxing after almost dying after a fight and due to financial mismanagement from a trusted friend, forced to return to boxing again when he was 40. Then amazingly, primarily due to his all-time punching power to becoming heavyweight champion again at age 45. Most unlikely and amazing about George Foreman’s life is the creation of the George Foreman grill – the most simplistic and widely used kitchen appliance of all time.

After Foreman lost to Muhammad Ali in 1974 in Africa, he became the angriest boxer in the history of the sport. The most significant aspect of the life of George Foreman is how he changed from an angry and unlikable person in the mid-70s to a funny big man who was so likable the opportunity of a lifetime, George Foreman Grill came to him – making him worth 300 million dollars today – far more money than he ever made from just boxing. Foreman’s likeability came after his loss to boxer Jimmy Young in 1977 where he found God and almost died after the fight, and then pursued a life of preaching for many years before returning to boxing for a second time.

As far as this film, there are a number of issues that are missing – including not focusing enough on the Foreman Grill, showing how angry and unlikeable he was during the 1970s and the fact that he was married 4 times before he married his 5th wife, who he has been with for 37 years. Too much time was spent on this story up to the time when Foreman was forced to go back into boxing for financial reasons, so less time was spent on all of the challenges and fights he had before he became the Heavyweight champion the second time, 20 years after he lost to Ali. Foreman came out of extreme poverty, only because of Jobs Corp, where he was sent to get job skills and there just so happened to be a boxing trainer who taught him how to box.

I thought that the acting was very well done, with Forest Whitaker as Foreman’s long-time friend and trainer and Khris Davis who plays George Foreman.

The Rotten Tomatoes rating of 53% for this good biopic is once again wrong, with my rating a solid 80% and a recommendation to see this movie.

Movie Review: Chevalier

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While watching the new movie “Chevalier”, a true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner – I kept thinking about the risk this man was taking in the late 1700’s France, given that he was half black. Due to his amazing musical talent as a musician, violin player, and composer, he was given much more leeway than any other black person of that era. However, Joseph Bologne took risk after risk, including having an affair with the married woman of a powerful political rival, that if this were not a true story, It would be hard to believe that anyone would risk their life so blatantly, even if they were white.

I thought that the story was well told, but too boring and slow-moving in too many areas. The acting was good, with the only known actor in this production Minnie Driver, and the main character played by Kelvin Harrison Jr. With all movies about the 1700’s and 1800s it is still hard to believe that the style in those days, was for everybody to wear a huge wig. Why this happened, over the centuries is anybody’s guess. For the most part, everybody looks ridiculous, especially the men in those days.

There are some good references to French history, including frequent appearances by Marie Antoinette played very well by Lucy Boynton.

Overall, I give this film a marginal recommendation, which is in the area of the 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Movie Review: Evil Dead Rise

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The new movie “Evil Dead Rise” is one of the few films where I recognized that the casting director was one of the most important ingredients in making this movie what it was supposed to be: scary and insane. The main character in this movie, Elli played by Alyssa Sutherland – is possessed and mutates into an evil horrendous creature, that with impressive makeup, would not work with many actors as well as it worked with Alyssa. Her long facial features and presence pull off one of the most horrible-looking evil creatures in the history of cinema.

This story, about a family and some other residence of a dilapidated dark high rise apartment building, is about impressive special effects, and more blood than I have ever seen, but not much else. Nobody goes to a horror movie like this, to see a well told story. Some of the gore in this production is way over the top, especially at the end, with the appearance of what can only be described as a “combination spider creature”, that has to be seen to be believed. The climax in an underground parking garage includes a giant wood chiper – that would never be in any parking garage, but to pull off the record breaking special effects, and all of that blood, this machine had to be there at the end.

This is a straight up special effects horror movie and not much else. I give this movie a marginal recommendation, only for the insane scenes of horror and gore, with my rating of around 70%, about 15 points lower than the Rotten Tomatoes opinion.