Hey, folks. Capone in Chicago here.

I genuinely can't remember the last time I felt as torn about a documentary's subject matter as I did after watch director James (FINGERS; THE PICK-UP ARTIST; BLACK AND WHITE) Toback's penetrating and sometimes scarily intimate profile of former boxing champion Mike Tyson--he of the rape conviction, ear biting and bas-ass face tattoo. It's clear from the extensive interviews that Toback conducts that Tyson, now in the early 40s, is still somewhat confused and torn about his past, and he seems somewhat eager to set the record straight while still confounding us with his views on women, money, boxing, family, and his fractured state of mind.

Toback manages to find a rather unconventional way of telling his story conventionally. This is a fairly straightforward, chronological oral history of Tyson's life, told with his words only and featuring no other interviews outside of archival footage. The real sticking point for many people as to whether they even want to see this film--forgetting whether they like it or not--is Tyson's rape conviction. It made me wince to hear him refer to former beauty queen Desiree Washington (the victim) as a "despicable swine," but if you believe Tyson's version of the story, you can understand his outrage. He admits to so many other deplorable things in his life that it's hard to imagine that he'd continue lying about this incident. That's the most memorable example of how Tyson refuses to provide easy answers to any portion of his life. One moment he'll be crying about the loss of his first trainer and best friend, later he's rambling on about his sexual aggressiveness and how he has so much love to give but refuses to accept any love in return. It's as scary as it is pathetic.

The one thing I can guarantee you about TYSON is that whatever your opinion of the man might be going into the film, odds are that it will be different after you watch it. I'm not even saying they will be better, just different. Toback's style is clear, concise and features every highlight from Tyson's mixed bag of successes and failures. I loved the handful of moments when he overlaps different portions of interview over each other, as if to indicated Tyson's slightly altered state. The man in these interviews is not the same raging fool in the older news footage, the one who would say to a sports reporter during a press conference, "I will fuck you until you love me, faggot!" That was the old Mike Tyson. This new one is easy to listen to--despite his mangling of the English language--and there's a part of me that wants to give this aging athlete a chance at redemption. Then there's the part of me with a functional long-term memory. But Tyson never shies away from bad publicity, like the kind his ex-wife Robin Givens provided him during a pre-divorce, joint interview with Barbara Walters. There is nothing he brushes off as a subject he's not comfortable discussing, and as a result TYSON shows us a man in full contradiction mode on some subjects, while also getting it so right when it comes to his kids and second ex-wife.

Perhaps the greatest moment in the film comes in an interview clips of Tyson immediately after what was to be his final fight, in which he admits to taking the fight for the sole purpose of paying bills. When he tells the reporter that he has lost the fire to box, he does so not as a man defeated but as a man relieved that he's finally ready to move on with whatever comes next for this man who has been referred to as a beast or animal, a rage-a-holic, a man who belongs in a cage. One thing I'm pretty sure of is that Tyson is a man who responds to his environment. When he allows himself to be surrounded by conniving management and promoters (such as Don King), he became devious. But when he is surrounded by good people, he shines. In the end, I think Toback's film does more harm than good to Tyson and certainly to us. But odds are you won't have a clue how to look upon Mike Tyson, which in no way is a discouragement to this extremely important film. Quite the contrary, you should attempt to see this on a big screen. It's worth it to see such a bold and vengeful piece of great filmmaking. Check this one out, even if sports in general and boxing in particular aren't that your favorite thing.

-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com