The Great White Hype (1996)

the audience applauded

Best movie ever!

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

At first I was not interested in this film, but then I saw a preview of it and noticed that Samuel L. Jackson was playing one of his slimy characters I decided that I might give it a shot. It was only $1.50 a week at the video shop, so if I didn't like it then I would not have felt that ripped off. I remember when it was on in the cinemas. My sister had a free ticket and the only movie that we could see was this one. I decided not to and used my free ticket to see Independence Day. As I pull this movie apart, I will reveal a lot, so if you do not want to know what happens, read no further. Anyway, this was actually quite a good movie. As the title tells us, it is about hype. It is about manipulating things to gain money and power. The movie is focused around the Reverend (Samuel L. Jackson) who is the manager of a boxer known as Roper (Damon Wayans). Roper is the heavy weight champion but nobody is watching his fights because it is with other negros and as such boring, so the Reverend comes upon an idea of creating a great White boxer to take on Roper, and he comes up with a boxer who beat Roper when he was an amateur.The movie is about manipulation and how power does not fall. It is interesting to note that the Reverend is not defeated, rather he seizes on his opportunity to not only create a champion, but to keep the money rolling in. He tries to keep his champion happy, but Roper wants money, so he promises a fight, one with the white guy.This movie is incredibly well made because we all get caught up in the hype over the white boxer. He is little more than a heavy metal singer, but he beat Roper once and as such is the one who must confront Roper to make a great fight. Everybody believes the hype, and as such we get caught up in the hype. What adds to it is that we believe in the typical Hollywood ending where the White boxer wins and the Reverend becomes nothing. The end of this movie shows us that it is nothing more than hype as the White boxer is knocked out with one well placed punch and does not get up.It is also interesting to note that in this movie money makes everything. The Reverend has everybody under his belt, including the director of the boxing organisation, and what he says goes. When the investigative reporter walks in in his desire to blow the Reverend's sydicate open, he is thrown a job and money and instantly changes his morals. This movie shows us that morals collapse so easily with enough money, and that everybody has their price.This is a movie of corruption and manipulation, set in the decadence of Las Vegas. Okay I have probably given a lot away in this movie, but it is difficult to pull it apart without doing so.

First of all, this movie is funny. Even if you're not an insider to the world of boxing, this film makes many references you'll recognize and goes over the top with it and with some of the flamboyant people who have graced the sport.Then there is the whole idea of finding a white boxer, besides the obligatory "Rocky" that is, that people can get behind to breathe new life into the sport.Here you have every stereotype of that world thrown in from the promoters to the media personnel who made boxing what it is today -- Hype. Here is a promoter who is keeping his client from fighting the one guy who can actually beat him (hence ruin their meal tickets), to come up with someone else to make Hype and recover funds he already spent that he can't pay the boxing champ. That among other things. Samuel L. Jackson is fun to watch as is Jeff Goldblum and Jamie Fox and Damon Wayons as the over-hyped champ. Rounding this out is the usual bottom feeders played well by Jon Lovitz and Corbin Bernsen. This movie can be uneven at times, but overall its entertainment, and a sarcastic view into the boxing promotion world like no other. Two stars out of four.

I used to be a boxing fan, until Don King and Tyson killed whatever credibility the sport had left, but I really enjoyed this movie. The whole beginning of the film with Wayans and Jackson going back and forth and the idea for the big PPV draw, seemed straight out of an actual King and Tyson meeting. The plot is pretty straight forward and most of the "jokes" miss, but it is a SATIRE not a comedy, so that is forgivable.Damon Wayans, Samuel Jackson, Cheech Marin, Peter Berg, and John Rynes-Davises, all give notable performances playing their characters well. The rest of the cast does a decent job of not taking the film too seriously with the notable exception being Jeff Goldblum, who tries so HARD not to make you laugh at him, that eventually you give up. It's like he was in his own film, trying to be so serious, but he is still able to help the film, but in a darker way than the rest.I will be the first to admit that most of the "jokes" that seem to pepper the satire seem to have been thrown in to generate a wider audience and alienate the ones that actually want to watch the movie. It plays more like a documentary on "How to Market a Fight," then an actual movie, but I like the amount of small details that went into making the film. It is too bad no one figured out "How to Market a Successful Film with the Guy from 'Pulp Fiction'" because maybe more people would had seen it. Overall it is still a must-see for those who like boxing or those who used to.

I have to admit that when I rented this movie, I was expecting a dumb comedy that would fail to show the reality of boxing. However, this film is a very funny film that also has a rather keen insight into the current state of boxing. Samuel L. Jackson plays a "Don King" type guy that is stuck with the problem of having a champ that might be too good. No one wants to pay to see the guy, because there are no quality fighters out there to challenge him. So, Jackson goes about creating a contender for the champ. What is the one thing you need to get people in the arena to watch? Well, a white challenger of course, experience not necessary. Surely many white Americans will pay to see one of their own knock down the overly cocky, black champ. Berg plays the "Great White Hope." The beauty of this film is the comedic way that it shows the real life corruption in boxing today. Fights are fixed, promotions are staged and very rarely do you have the best fighting the best. Moreover, we as viewers fall into the same trap that boxing fans do. Here you have an unqualified contender, that has no prayer of beating the champ. However, as we see the hype done by these snake oil salesmen, we start to believe that Berg's character actually has a chance to win. If you are a boxing fan, you will love this film, because it is real. Even if you are not a boxing fan, you will enjoy it. Very funny film and great acting performances. Believe the hype!