Big George Foreman ticks all the boxes of what a biopic should be. It shows us his troubled childhood, his bumpy rise to the top, and his eventual reconciliation with fame and boxing. It’s also nicely shot and polished, an accurately dressed period piece that looks and feels the part. But nothing about the film hits you as particularly new or exciting. Prickly topics like faith and infidelity aren’t so much explored as they are simply covered, and the dialogue sounds like something you’ve heard a thousand times. There’s also a sense that the filmmakers noticed this problem because halfway through, the movie switches into a more lighthearted tone, as if it were suddenly bored of itself. Sure, Big George Foreman is easy to follow and nice to look at, but its formulaic structure fails to distinguish itself from a long and ever-growing line of sports biopics.

Easily, Muhammad Ali, played here by the charismatic Sullivan Jones. The actor embodies Ali in every way and even has his larger-than-life personality down pat. Since the first half of the film is a sluggish melodrama, his scene is a welcome breath of fresh air. I only wish we would’ve seen more of him; the match between him and Foreman was one of the best ones in the movie.