Before he became a household name in kitchens across America for his electric grills, George Foreman (Khris Davis) already had made a global name for himself in a very different arena: boxing.  After winning an Olympic Gold Medal for the sport at the 1968 Summer Games, he won the title of heavyweight champion in 1973, but failed to defend his reign the following year in a historic fight marketed as “Rumble in the Jungle” against Muhammad Ali (Sullivan Jones).  His passion and his pride hurt, George spent the next few years taking on lesser fights before falling ill in his dressing room and receiving a religious epiphany while his team scrambled to provide him with aid.  He devoted his life to preaching the gospel, ultimately becoming the minister of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, but when a tragedy strikes, the ring is calling George’s name to make one more comeback tour and reclaim his title as champion. 

George Tillman Jr. brings George Foreman’s story to the screen from a script he co-wrote with Dan Gordon and Frank Baldwin.  Originally titled Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World, it was eventually adjusted to just Big George Foreman, but the shorter title does not mean the film lost any of its scope which follows a young George (Kei Rawlins), through his expulsion from school, run-ins with the law as a teenager, and his time in the Job Corps which led him to meet Doc Broadus (Forest Whitaker) who took a chance and introduced George to boxing.  At 129 minutes, the film is packed with story beats, but it never delves too deeply into any aspect of George’s life opting more to serve as a summary of factoids surrounding the accomplished man. 

Produced by Affirm Films, among others, with distribution handled by Columbia Pictures, audiences are tipped off from the get-go that Big George Foreman will not focus just on his fighting career, but there will also be heavy focus on his spiritual life.  The film opens with the breaking of bread: a shared hamburger among the large Foreman family, presided over by devout matriarch, Nancy (Sonja Sohn).  George, who hastily begins his meal before being reminded to say grace, and is then given the last few bites of his sister’s share of the sandwich makes for a troubling opening.  Thankfully, Big George Foreman is less Fireproof (2008) or War Room (2015) and is instead more akin to The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) in which it uses faith as a framework for the narrative instead of platforming with the film and preaching to the audience; though notably Affirm was not involved with the Jessica Chastain starring biopic.  Religion being such a large part of George’s life, it would have been impossible to tell the story without it, but so often films that seek to inspire, in an effort to really lean into the concept that with God all things are possible, they inadvertently lessen the achievements of the characters whose stories they are putting to film. That is not exactly the case here, but the film can be split into clear sections – George’s career as a fighter and his life as a family man and preacher – and it feels almost as if they are two totally different films unable to bridge the tone between the two sides. 

Big George Foreman spends a large amount of its runtime in the ring.  John Matysiak and David Tattersall’s cinematography is not afraid to get in under the lights to witness the powerful blows levied by Foreman onto his opponents up close, and when sequenced together by Alex Blatt and Craig Hayes’ editing, it creates for some thrilling sequences.  The fights, choreographed by Darrell Foster, are treated as elegantly and elaborately as a ballet sequence in that the camera is so intently focused on the human form as Foreman relentlessly swings his massive fists while seeking to doge his opponent’s fury. Even the most cynical viewer will find the propulsive fight scenes captivating, at least in the moment.

Narratively, however, the film suffers.  The script follows a very loose Scorsese “fall-from-grace” template, complete with voice-over narration.  Foreman’s story lends itself well to the arc, but the problem here is that much of the drama is delivered by backtracking instead of building.  This is most evident in a dinner scene that George is hosting with his wife, Mary (Jasmine Mathews).  There is clear animosity between the two, and as an audience, we definitely feel like we are missing a crucial bit of information about their relationship as we have only just seen them married a few short scenes ago.  Thankfully, the film does give us a scene to fill us in on the new state of the relationship, but this constant habit of going back to fill us in is more frustrating than anything.  It always feels like we are playing catchup on what could easily play out as a more linear narrative to greater effect as it will also help the performances feel less sporadic in their construction. 

Overall, Big George Foreman is a simple approach to a bold character.  It does try to employ some twists and turns, but ultimately the script is quick to retreat to safer routes of storytelling without tightening up what it was trying to establish in the first place. The approach to the story feels very filtered through the Foreman brand which hints at some of the thorns while never really allowing its central figure to be seen in anything but favorable light, even at his lowest moments.  It is an understandable approach to the story, and the filmmakers wanting access surely had to yield to the wishes of the family, but it results in a stagnant narrative that has aspirations of greatness but is held back at every chance.  With a few flickers of flair in the filmmaking, especially in the ring, and a committed cast, Big George Foreman is a film with a big heart, but overall, it feels quite lifeless.