Renowned sports fanatic, basketball tragic and occasional loudmouth Spike Lee swaps the hardwood of Madison Square Garden for the velvet curtains of Broadway, and Mike Tyson swaps sweaty mitts for a shiny mic in Undisputed Truth, a taping of one of Tyson's one-man shows in which he candidly shares the highs, lows, jokes and traumas of his colourful and exorbitant life.
You don't earn this many nicknames without having a natural and all-consuming charisma and Mike Tyson, alias 'Iron Mike', alias 'Champ', alias 'The baddest man on the planet,' has it in droves. He tells the story the only way it can possibly be told, not with stereotypically bearded and bespectacled talking heads, or bland and well-worn archive footage, but with a youthful enthusiasm that truly captures the man he is: one with many faults but who oozes passion and a pursuit of excellence.
Tyson's storytelling is a little sloppy and often erratic, but certainly never boring. Those looking for a well-balanced discussion of some of the most scrutinised moments of his life may find Undisputed Truth to be as shallow and self-serving as any predictable, studio-sanctioned biopic. But Iron Mike doesn't care. If he wants to explicitly denounce Don King, call his ex-wife a demonic, rabid golddigger or recall the time he didn't know what to do with Brad Pitt – the details of which are far too sordid for publication – then that's exactly what the Champ will do.
His tale isn't all slander and street fights though, as some genuinely touching moments come through in his remembrance of fallen friends and family. If there was something admirable about the brash, violent young man who turned sheer rage into inconceivable success, then there's just as much to like about the reflective, repentant man he has become, both traits of which are displayed in equal measure in this engrossing narrative.
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