Don King: Only in America (1997)

I love this movie so much

Highly Overrated But Still Good

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

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

The great Ving Rhames plays a local Cleveland bookie and some time ex-con maneuvering his way to the top of the nascent and dynamic world of pro boxing.Rhames, best known for his role as Pulp Fiction's gang thug Marcellus Wallace, plays a different type of tough guy and hustler in the form of an animated and verbally combative Don King; a persona he nails. Only in America also cameos Bernie Mac, Jeremy Piven and the late soul singer Lou Rawls.For as much as other films like Any Given Sunday and Jerry Maguire have endeavored to depict the perceived evil, cutthroat and slimy nature of sports promoters, Only in America does so not by belaboring its players as bad people. Rather Don King's character is flamboyant, very human, and so exciting that, as he puts it "If you didn't have Don King, you'd have to invent him." written by Andy Frye, MySportsComplex.blogspot.com

Kudos to Ving Rhames for a job well done as the flamboyant boxing promoter Don King, who is still with us in the boxing game, although he's toned down quite a bit. I'll bet Rhames had a lot of fun playing this role. King, meanwhile, will always be King, and you ring fans know what I mean by that. Still, I wonder if he doesn't cringe watching this biography of him.As interesting a career as Mr. King has, that doesn't mean I enjoyed watching this movie. It's extremely racist, at least in the first half which turned me off so much I don't recall if even finished the film. All white people were portrayed as bad people. How is that permitted, when the opposite is not. Just the typical double standard employed by most filmmakers. However, to be fair, King was a bad, bad dude in his early days and the film is portraying that. He's a much different person today. It's just that it's not fun to watch, nor is the profanity in here fun to hear. I don't mind "language" since I'm no choir boy, but this is ridiculous in here. Don't let the "made-for-TV" label fool you. It was made for HBO, and anything goes on that network.

I am an accountant and very versed in big business throughout history. When I saw the movie I was impressed with the mannerism of Don King during the early years and how he managed to overcome the American societal culture of the time. Of course the opinions of today are negative because we do not live in that time and more than likely have not done very much research into what life was like for the average person and definitely zero research for the unpopular black American. I for one am not for or against the mafia way of life or dishonesty, but you have to know something about ALL American history to attempt to understand why things happened the way they did and how the people of the time made a success of themselves. Don King has sustained in the same industries for decades against all odds, which included deep underground crime hurdles. I give credit where credit is due and if you are honest and not jealous, you would have to as well. The movie makers did a great job on the movie and I give them credit as well. Great movie. Thank you.

the quality of this movie surprised me. The editing, dialogues, and screenplay flow is superb. Tough for an actor to act to be Don King, an actor himself. Learned new english words too: "tried to DISMERCIFY me". I would reccomend that the viewer see first "When We Where Kings", the documentary of the Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire, because a good 20 minutes of this movie re-enacts many scenes straight from the documentary. There are imaginative scenes and dialogues: how the character impersonating Don King talks to the camera [audience] saying how HBO is making a movie on him; stunning beginning in which a scene from the past is bridged to the present zooming in on the footsteps on a stairway, then zooming out to see the entire figure walking of a much older person.