Like its subject, the heavyweight boxer turned preacher turned comeback champion boxer George Foreman (a physically transformed Khris Davis), this by-numbers biopic is hefty and powerful but not exactly light on its feet. The film is an uplifting plodder that takes in the boxer’s formative years, in a desperately poor and fervently devout family in Houston, Texas; his encounter with the inspirational trainer (Forest Whitaker) who helped him channel his anger into sporting excellence; his reconnection with his faith; and his “miraculous” late-life success.
It’s solidly and safely directed by George Tillman Jr, but will likely appeal more to the Christian cinema crowd than to the sports movie audience.
Big George Foreman is out in cinemas in the UK now and in Australia on 20 July.
