Tiger

"Tiger" (2021 release; 2 parts; 190 min.) is a documentary about the life and times of golf legend Tiger Woods. As the first part opens, we see Tiger's dad Earl Tiger reflect at the 1996 Haskings Collegiate Award: "The world will be a better place to live in with him", yea, modestly was not lost on Earl. We then go back to "1978" as two (!) year old Tiger is on a TV show with Bob Hope, and swinging away. More troublesome, as Tiger grows older, he asks his school teacher to talk to Earl to let him play other sports as well. (Did you notice that Tiger couldn't even ask his dad himself?) Earl refuses outright... At this point we are 10 min. into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this documentary is directed by Academy Award nominee and Emmy-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman ("Cartel Land") and Emmy nominee Matthew Hamachek. In other words, no slouches or amateurs. The picture they paint of Tiger is a complicated one: on the one hand his golfing talent is immense, perhaps the best golfer ever, but on the other hand Earl and his wife to a lesser degree are so overbearing that young Tiger doesn't stand a chance to develop into his own. The film makers interview tons of people that were (are?) close to Tiger. Of particular interest is Tiger's very first serious girlfriend Dina, who provides a ton of insights on how things were back in those days. "There is fame and then there is mania", she comments on the crushing social and other pressures on Tiger. Part 1 concludes around 2006, a year with lots of upheaval and change for Tiger. Can't wait to see Part 2!

Part 1 of "Tiger" premiered this weekend on HBO and is now available on HBO On Demand and other streaming services. Part 2 is scheduled to air this coming weekend. If you have any interest in Tiger the person and/or Tiger the golfer, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

I get that real Tiger Woods fans might find it intrusive, but for me, someone that doesn't watch golf I thought it was amazing. A true look at America's fascination with creating a star so they can destroy it. Tiger winning another major in 2019 makes for a true Hollywood story. I'm curious who will play him in a narrative one day?

He had poor role models in life, but he's an inspiration for anyone who has lost their way in life and has found a way to battle back! I loved every part of this series! Go Tiger!

Really good documentary. Always been a big Tiger fan, but this gets very personal. Good to see that he's cleaned up and getting his life together.

I know this feels exploitative, and I know it doesn't seem right to steal the last amounts of privacy Tiger has left, BUT this provided so much insight into how one of the greatest sports figures in American history was built. I unfortunately was compelled by some of the personal strife he went through (his father cheating, Tiger's ability to bury the things that chipped away at his amour). I think his story is important because you learn that the icons you place on a pedestal are nothing more than men. They are flesh, blood, and tears.