Don King: Only in America (1997)

............................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FL "Now if you all didn't have Don King...You'd have to invent him!", proclaims a larger-than-life Don King at the end of this HBO biopic. Moments later we see the standard, "Some scenes or events have been changed or altered for dramatic effect" biopic disclaimer clause. Makes you wonder just how much is really 'true' and how much is HBO invention! (Possible HBO payback for Pay-per-View deals that haven't gone so well?) Do the words "Conflict of Interest" mean anything to anybody? HBO movies are invariably a 7* to 10* experience for me...Especially biopics.(OOPS! Decided to let this typo stand...Has a rather ironic/sardonic ring to it, wouldn't you say?) ONLY IN America was not up to HBO's usual standard of excellence. Since 5.5* is not an option, 6* is what you see above. What kept America somewhere in the barely OK zone, as opposed to not at all, were the numerable pop-cultural nostalgic moments, events and personalities, in addition to the behind-the-scenes story itself.For America to have really soared, it required a top-notch performance from Ving Rhames. Although there were some scenes where he does really shine, unfortunately, a lot of his acting seems more like a caricature, a crude parody of the real thing! That Rhames won a Golden-Globe for his portrayal of King simply baffles me. Sorry, his performance just doesn't seem that great to me! Putting it mildly, HBO presents an extremely unflattering portrait of Mr. King: A back-stabbing, foul-mouthed, self-aggrandizing, utterly ruthless, oft-times buffoonish and chronically malapropistic speaker. (Although he did show improvement on this score as the years passed) But, pop-culturally speaking, you can't deny there's a lot going on in America! Apparently, most people seem to like this film a lot more than I did...So, try it if you will!....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome! [email protected]

"Don King: Only in America" is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. If it wasn't a TV movie, Ving Rhames should have won an Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of this complicated man. The film is riveting from start to finish as we see King at his beginnings as a small time crook, until what he ended up- a big time crook. The film is a masterpiece- every scene works perfectly. Perhaps the best scenes in the movie are the ones with King alone in a boxing ring talking directly to the camera. Absolutely brilliant!

Don King is a self-promoter the likes that few have seen in our lifetime. This film takes a novel approach to telling the King story, blowing KING up into as big a buffoon as possible, and using King himself (actor Ving Rhames) in telling the tale. I give director John Herzfeld credit-it's a novel and appropriate approach to the biography of a man who truly is more caricature than real.Rhames gives an inspired and convincing performance as King, breathing much life into a film from a book that was for all practical purposes stillborn.Enjoy the movie for Rhames and pay little attention to the details.

The best thing to be said for this film is that Ving Rhames, usually a supporting player, gets a role he can really sink his teeth into. He alone tries to carry the film with his charismatic, vivid performance. The film itself is typical made for tv fare-conventional, fairly unimaginative cinematically, competent enough to be semi-entertaining.