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.
