VidMate
Free YouTube video & music downloader
ACTOR
Ving RhamesVondie Curtis-HallJeremy PivenDarius McCrary
DIRECTOR
John Herzfeld
SYNOPSICS
Don King: Only in America (1997) is a English movie. John Herzfeld has directed this movie. Ving Rhames,Vondie Curtis-Hall,Jeremy Piven,Darius McCrary are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1997. Don King: Only in America (1997) is considered one of the best Biography,Drama,Sport movie in India and around the world.
More
Same Actors
Don King: Only in America (1997) Reviews
HBO Presents an Extremely Unflattering Portrait of Mr. King!
............................................................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! KissEnglishPasto@Yahoo.com
Don King is a monster
Ving Rhames is a truly amazing actor and always gives a wonderful performance. I always think of him as electronic expert Luther Stickell in the Mission Impossible movie series with Tom Cruise. In this film, he tackles a very challenging role and pulls it off magnificently! He should have gotten an Emmy for his outstanding work as a true American monster Don King. Don King was inducted into the boxing hall of fame recently, can you believe that? Someone said that is like burying Benedict Arnold in Arlington Cemetary. Don King did not hold anything remotely resembling an honest job until he was 40 years old and went into boxing promoting. He was nothing but a common criminal. He was a numbers runner for the Clevland syndicate and killed two men. In the first case, it was ruled justifiable homicide, in the second case it was more despicable. This man beat another man to death on a public street in front of many eyewitnesses. He literally kicked him to death until his brain ruptured. For this crime he only served a few years in prison. Rhames made me laugh in this film with his amusing portrayal of King's flamboyance and colorful use of words, but there is nothing funny about this man and the damage that he did to boxing. The most horrible thing that he did, and I WANT EVERYONE READING THIS ON IMDB TO HEAR THIS!!!LISTEN TO WHAT I AM SAYING. In 1980, Muhammad Ali came out of retirement to fight Larry Holmes in an effort to become the only man to ever regain the title three times. Before this fight, Ali had to have a physical at the Mayo clinic which is one of the finest clinics in the US. They sent a report of their findings to Don King and he supressed this report and let the fight go on. They found out that Ali literally had a hole in the membranes surrounding his brain. He admitted that he had tingling in his hands and slurring of his speech. All they would have to do is listen to tapes of him from ten years before to hear how his voice had changed. He couldn't do simple things like hopping or touching his nose with his finger (the things police have people do to take a DUI test). Don King talked of how much he "loved" Ali. IF HE LOVED HIM SO DAMN MUCH WHY OH WHY DIDN"T HE CANCEL THE FIGHT. King was so powerful do you think that he couldn't have done it. Eddie Futch was one of the legendary trainers in boxing. He trained Joe Frazier and said he loved him like a son. In the third fight he had with Ali in Manilla, Eddie stopped the fight because he knew Frazier was blind and couldn't defend himself. Keep in mind, he thought Frazier was ahead on points and it was the last round. That is a true gentleman and that is what Don King should have done with the Ali Holmes fight. Ali suffered a horrible beating that was unbearable to watch. Sylvester Stallone said it was like watching an autopsy on a living person. Ali was damaged even more by this fight and it was all because of a scumbag named Don King. Don King is a monster and he is like a Frankenstein monster because we made him and we let him get away with it. Joe Louis must be turning in his grave!!!!!
Not A Pretty Picture Of A Flamboyant Man
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.
One of the best TV movies ever made!
"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!
Very very good
Made for telly but extremely watchable. Ving Rhames shines. His performance is fantastic, he even looks like real Don King. He makes the character utterly compelling even though you know he is a crook and cheat. All his initial deals were held on literally a piece of string and yet he pulled them all off. Nice pace, good script, well produced. Watch out for he boxing ring scenes when Don talks to the camera. Great! 10/10