“Before you see ‘Farang Ba,’ you may ask yourself, ‘Why should I watch a documentary about a middle-aged lawyer who goes to Thailand to step in the ring against much younger amateur boxers?’ But immediately afterward, you'll have as much genuine respect for Craig Wilson as his opponents do. And years afterward, you'll still be remembering this boxer, this film by John Sullivan, and this unexpectedly, unforgettably inspirational story.”
-- David Bianculli
TV critic, New York Daily News
NPR Commentator
“Middle-aged, bald, bespectacled Craig Wilson appears to be another white-bread corporate attorney, working in Thailand for Coca Cola and leading a quiet life abroad. But the Harvard-educated Wilson is also an amateur boxer, regularly fighting opponents in their early 20’s and often winning. He’s fought televised matches, served as honorary coach for the Philippines boxing team and done charity bouts with a Thai TV star. The story now seems unusual enough, until we find out that Craig has had cancer, which has required the removal of his entire colon, months of treatment, and reliance on an ileostomy bag. And he still boxes. In a tender reference to Wilson's Thai nickname, "crazy white foreigner," Farang Ba is a candid story of tenacity, obsession, cross cultural respect and, at its heart, courage.”
--Nick Tangborn (Mill Valley Film Festival)
“Harvard educated lawyers are expected to throw debilitating blows in the courtroom, but Craig Wilson has taken his fight beyond the three ring circus of corporate law and into the square circled arena of amateur boxing. At 45, Craig maintains a “never say die” attitude which has allowed him not only to conquer opponents twenty years younger than himself, but has pushed him to overcome an immensely more dangerous bout with cancer. A testament to the resilience of the human spirit, Crazy White Foreigner is a true-life-bizarro-world version of Billy Elliot that may not have you boxing in the aisles, but will make even the most hardened of hearts bubble and pop with the spring of youth. In Craig Wilson, documentarian John Sullivan has found quite an amazing story."
--Christopher Claxton (Hawaii International Film Festival)
Reviews
Listen to John Sullivan's Farang Ba (Crazy White Foreigner) Interview on NHPR's The Front Porch with John Walters:
