Hot on the heels of Creed III comes the real-life story that reads exactly like a Hollywood script.
We go from - deep breath - horrendous poverty in the slums of Houston to petty crime to a vocational escape route to the discovery of boxing to Olympic Gold a year later to world champion to former world champion to near-death experience to preaching to financial ruin to the long road back to becoming world heavyweight champion again - this time as the oldest ever at the age of 45.
Indeed, there's so much to fit in during this pacy and always-watchable biopic that the grill only gets a humorous mention in passing.
Anchored by an excellent central performance by star-in-the-making Khris Davis, playing George Foreman from young tough to middle-aged man and all weights in between, Big George Foreman squares up to the audience and makes them think about things they want to achieve in their own lives, no matter how prosaic those goals may be. Its line, "What do you care what they think?" is a mantra to take home.
If you're looking for epic 12-round sequences and liniment by the gallon, this isn't that film. There are already many documentaries involving Foreman's time in the ring, and there's also the Oscar-winning must-see When We Were Kings about his 'Rumble in the Jungle' against Muhammad Ali - this is more about the man. That said, the fight scenes here still do the job.
Director George Tillman Jr, whose credits include The Hate U Give, This Is Us and the Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious, imbues proceedings with plenty of feelgood but avoids being too gushy. If some things seem a little far-fetched, then stick around for the actual photos over the closing credits. You really couldn't make it up.
An old-school, solid-rather-than-spectacular movie. Whatever shape you're in, you'll feel like more of a contender after watching it.
