Have you ever wondered what Rocky V might look like if it were a good movie? Big George Foreman is here to answer that question in our latest installment of Christian Film Reviews. Big George Foreman tells the remarkable story of how George Foreman, after suffering his second professional defeat to Jimmy Young in 1977 had a near death experience that changed him forever.
Growing up, George Foreman knew hunger and he also lacked a father figure in his life. After a narrow escape from the law after attempting to rob an undercover police officer, George decides to shape up and enter the Job Corps. Before long, George’s out of control anger threatens all that he’s worked for, and along comes Doc Broadus, his eventual trainer played by Forrest Whitaker, who channels his rage into boxing.
From there we see George Foreman (Khris Davis) compete in the Olympics, make his professional debut, and hear the legendary call “Down goes Frazier.” The movie does not shy away from the womanizing of George Foreman, nor does it relish in it either. And when George Foreman has to fight Muhammad Ali (Sullivan Jones) in the “Rumble in the Jungle,” we see a rather faithful reenactment of the event, although it’s worth noting that at no point during the actual fight did it seem like George Foreman was winning. The movie did well in highlighting the unconventional tactics of Ali along with the taunting in the ring.
A few fights later and George Foreman loses to Jimmy Young, and after the fight we see a near death experience where Foreman comes out proclaiming Christ. As weird as this sounds, it is the actual story. Additionally, this is set up with Foreman’s prior contempt for God despite being in a believing family. Soon after becoming a Christian, Foreman retires from boxing to become a pastor. Moreover, George Foreman makes amends with Muhammad Ali, apologizing to him for his hatred, beginning their lifelong friendship.
Being a Baptist pastor, George Foreman knew a thing or two about potlucks and fried chicken and proceeds to gain a massive amount of weight. His best friend in the movie, a real-life Paulie, squanders all his money putting his youth center in jeopardy. So, George decides to come out of retirement to pay the bills.
In this there is an incredible character development. Before George Foreman fought with anger and hatred, but now George Foreman fights for the glory of God. But in order to do so, he must lose a bunch of weight for Doc to take him seriously. Perceived as a joke, George Foreman proves that his comeback is serious, and inspired by his wife’s vision of him winning the belt, he finally manages to achieve the title of Heavy Weight Champion at age 45.
I’ve said in the past that Christian movies compete especially well with secular films in sports movies. And Big George Foreman is similar to Creed III which also came out in 2023. Both movies touch on similar beats as Rocky V, but Creed III is an abomination, and its actual boxing scenes are terrible. In contrast, Big George Foreman received the acclaim of boxing reporter Steve Kim who noted that “the boxing scenes were well executed.”
A biopic of George Foreman is hard to pull off because his life has multiple climaxes, and the movie takes a conservative approach to survey his life in terms of the art of filmmaking. At times the acting comes across as wooden and the scenes are dry. Other characters in Foreman’s life are not as thoroughly explored. Additionally, the George Foreman Grill is treated as an aside jest, rather than given any meaningful screentime.
However, the performances of the main actors are commendable. Khris Davis underwent incredible weight changes during the production of the movie in order to film Foreman’s hundred pound weight gain. Sullivan Jones brought about a lively Muhammad Ali and looked the part quite well. And Forrest Whitaker continues to give a solid performance.
As an aside, George Foreman never leveraged his prowess to become a celebrity pastor, instead having a very small online footprint where that is concerned.
Ironically, Big George Foreman has a lot of the problematic tropes of Christian films yet pulls them off because George Foreman’s story is so compelling. It’s a shame this movie failed at the box office. While it’s not a perfect movie, it is a really good boxing movie with an overtly Christian message.
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