Ali Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Forget What You Think You Know
The Champ is here!
In 1964, a brash new pro boxer, fresh from his olympic gold medal victory, explodes on to the scene, Cassius Clay. Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African American's in sport with his proud public self confidence with his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. To his credit, he sets out to prove that with his highly agile and forceful style soon making him a formidable boxer who soon claims the heavyweight championship. His personal life is no less noteworthy with his allegiance to the Nation of Islam, his friendship with the controversial Malcolm X and his abandonment of his slave name in favour of Muhammad Ali stirring up controversy. Yet, at the top of his game, both Ali's personal and professional lives face the ultimate test with the military draft rules are changed, making him eligible for military induction during the Vietnam War. Despite the fact that he could easily agree to a sweetheart deal that would have meant an easy tour of duty for himself, Ali refuses to submit on principle to cooperate in an unjust war for a racist nation that treated his people so poorly. The cost of that stand is high as he finds himself unable to legally box in his own country while his case is contested in court. What follows is a battle for a man who would sacrifice so much for what he believes in and a comeback that would cement his legend as one of the great sports figures of all time.
| Will Smith | Cassius Clay/Cassius X/Muhammad Ali |
| Jamie Foxx | Drew 'Bundini' Brown |
| Jon Voight | Howard Cosell |
| Mario Van Peebles | Malcolm X |
| Ron Silver | Angelo Dundee |
| Jeffrey Wright | Howard Bingham |
| Mykelti Williamson | Don King |
| Jada Pinkett Smith | Sonji |
| Nona Gaye | Belinda Ali |
| Michael Michele | Veronica Porche |
| Joe Morton | Chauncey Eskridge |
| Bruce McGill | Bradley |
| Paul Rodriguez | Dr. Ferdie Pacheco |
| Barry Shabaka Henley | Herbert Muhammad |
| Giancarlo Esposito | Cassius Clay, Sr. |
| Michael Mann |
6.40 out of 10 (15492 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Yet another awful ‘true story' picture that fails.
posted on 11 Jun 2009Where to start. Lights, cameras, action and slow motions and that's about it, unfortunately. There's something that Hollywood must learn about biographical film making is that you must show something that the public hasn't seen before. The reason for the appeal of films like this is to get under the skin of the person in question, see what goes on behind closed doors.What was Ali really like in reality, was he more than the public, rude, arrogant, cocky, but great fighter or was he really that sad and one dimensional. Unfortunately after watching this bore-a-thon, I can only assume he was that dull.They clearly should have shown his childhood and his decent into his later years, this would have been much more interesting, and they could have cut out the rather boring and over long fight scenes. I'm sure everyone already knew the results of the fights anyway.For some strange reason the film also drifted into a mini bio of Malcolm X and general re-cap of the civil rights struggles of black Americans. This is all very interesting, but already done to death and please keep it out of a film about Ali.I can't say Will Smiths performance was anything other than just adequate, he never had me believing he wasn't Will Smith.3/10.
Ali Great Film - Ali is A Great Human Being
posted on 07 Jun 2009Through the good graces of my dear friend of more than 35 years, Dick Gregory, I had the honor to meet and know The Champ, Ali, for a few visits, mostly at fights but even at his home after his last triumph in winning the world championship. Believe me when I tell you, he is just as great and as charismatic as we all think he is. It was truly hard for him to be in such a position, as champion of the World, only because that much fame and success always means making some choices. Take the big money or risk losing everything because or your total commitment to The Civil Rights Movement? To be for or against and obviously unjust war in Vietnam? He had to choose between the best and easiest life or one of conflict and the worst choice of all, standing up for your beliefs including those which meant going to prison and possibly losing everything. But Ali will always stand as a world champion of people -- whatever that means. That might be why he is possibly the most famous person in the world. The film's entertaining.Dick Gregory is more than a friend and counsel to Ali. They have agreed that African Americans had a calling just as Dr. King did. Though it caused Ali many potentially successful years as an champion. Ali and Gregory made their work part of their calling and they have made an indelible mark on the history and the evolution of The Civil Rights Movement and the truth about what happened to America as a result of our being in Vietnam. This is a film that everyone should see -- particularly if they are confused about racism. This is an historic film as well as one that entertains from the first frame to the last.
Time will tell...
posted on 18 May 2009Ali was made with all the right ingredients: a big name actor starring, a director of high quality directing, and supporting actors who delve into their characters. But what nobody seems to have noticed so far was the script was a mere 10 pages long (I'm being sarcastic but not by far). There was almost no talking that wasn't encouraging Ali to do this or Ali to do that. I went to hear Ali's big mouth and see his fists fly. I was disappointed in both but decided about 10 minutes into it if they were going to rip me off from my purpose I'd settle down and see what social impact this movie would leave on me.I was more than a little disappointed. First of all the tale is of Ali in a couple of years of his prime and then the end of his flash and bang with the crowd. We see almost nothing of his childhood (one scene doesn't count in my opinion) and if you aren't an absolute Muhammed Ali buff then you won't know anything going in. For example, his father is around him most of the time and I had no idea until they fought over the name Muhammed Ali. That's not a good sign of a great movie. A great movie will stand the test of time by explaining things to you just enough to keep you focused. Instead I found myself running back to scenes in my mind because I didn't know who someone was.Will Smith does a shining job as Ali, I will not deny this. But the lack of speaking parts for him deny the viewer any insight into what he was all about. The impact of the film is said to be when he is jogging in Africa. Well this is all well and good except there is no speaking or thinking aloud parts to this. I am too young to have ever seen Ali fight in person. It's a shame. But because of my youth I'm deprived of knowing him? I don't want to go out and read 10 books on a subject just so I understand a movie. This film was put together wonderfully for those who are a big fan of Ali's personal life and struggles. For someone going and thinking this will be another JFK, Nixon, or any films that give you insight into someone's life...well...return your ticket now.This film, in short, will not stand the test of time. 30 years from now people will watch this movie and not understand anything going on, as I've done just 2 days ago. If you didn't live in that time frame you are exempt. In my opinion this fact is as bad as the discrimination shown briefly in the movie. I'm shut out for my age and lack of information. Bad movie. 3 out of 10 stars
ALI- THUMBS UP
posted on 30 Apr 2009Why are the critics dragging this movie into the mud. I read somewhere that Michael Mann when making this film had the intention of introducing Ali to the younger generation. If that article was true then Mann's Ali was a success.I can understand that most of them critics are people who were around when Ali was in his prime, so nothing in the movie would be new to them. But I went to the cinema with some of my friends and they sat the whole 2hrs and were impressed. THEY REALLY ENJOYED A TRUE-LIFE STORY. And they were all talking saying they didn't know Ali had done most of the things they had seen in the movie. They were all talking about this movie for weeks on end.As for the Americans, the fact that a black man stood up and refused to go to war in Vietnam is a very painful issue made even worse when he is a muslim(considering the Sept 11 issue).Please this movie is a classic with superb performances from the cast-Smith, Voight, Foxx, Silver Wright Van Peebles, e.t.c. beautiful cinematography, and one of the best action scenes including the climax of the film.This movie is a most see...
HE SHOOK UP THE WORLD
posted on 28 Apr 2009This is not Mann's best film, but it's still a great film. It shows that Mann is easily the no. 1 auteur in 2002 Hollywood. It is also Smith's best performance since "Six Degrees Of Seperation", and I'd be happy to see him take the Best Actor Oscar later this month.I feel the critics wanted more Ali humour. Instead you get to see the darker, pensive Ali. You ge a great insight into 1960s USA. The African scenes are spot on, and the closing stadium scene rivals anything in "Gladiator".
Makes you want to do some research
posted on 22 Apr 2009This is a well acted film by Smith, Jamie Foxx, and Jon Voight. This film assumes that you know a little history about Ali and glosses over certain facts in Ali's life during that period i.e. the controversial "Phantom punch" he laid on Sonny Liston during their second fight, or how Frazier was sent to the hospital after the brutal beating his received during their first fight (the movie makes it look like Ali was some out of shape bum who didn't have any fighting skills left).This movie makes me want to do more research on Ali so I can understand his supporting cast in the movie. I saw in the credits that the character of Larry Holmes was in the movie!?! What scene was he in? The same with Floyd Patterson. I know that Ali beat the snot out of him in the 60's, but the movie did not have any scenes of that fight.Go see this movie if you are an Ali fan or at least brush up on some history if you are not!
thank god for free libraries
posted on 16 Apr 2009Otherwise I would have PAID to rent this. This fell into the category of "an important" film. So I felt somehow OBLIGATED to watch it. You know? Cause I'm some white boy liberal (true) who wants to show my solidarity or whatever. But then, after an hour plus into it, I was thinking, man, I am NOT enjoying this crap. WHY am I watching it? I read a lot of the reviews in RottenTomatoes and many of them centered on the role of Jon Voight playing Howard Cosell. They all had nothing but praise to heap upon Jon Voight. So I started watching it for that reason but it was too little and too late. I ejected and watched my second choice movie. (HP and the SS) So sue me.
Good but not Oscar worthy
posted on 02 Apr 2009Going in to see ALI, I didn't know what to expect. All i knew about Ali the man, was that he was the greatest boxer that ever lived. Knowing this I wanted to see and learn who Ali was and what he was all about and what his life was about. I got all of this out of the movie including some good history about that time but nothing that i saw was incredible or is/was deservable of an Oscar.Michael Mann is a great director i give him that and a lot of the shots that he chose were simply gorgeous and brought tears. However I don't think he captured the entire essence of Ali himself. It was just tidbit after tidbit of information. There was not enough emotion in it for me. Like Harry Potter where they sqeezed everything in but didn't take enough time for the audience to capture the characters.Will Smith did a great job portraying Ali and i was happily surprised however, yet again, not oscar worthy. True Will Smith is cocky in life and loud, and none of this was shown in the movie, however Ali is cocky and shoots his mouth of in the movie like Wil Smith can sometimes do. Will Smith was one note the entire movie. And even if that was Ali or how Ali acted, it is not deserving of an oscar
Mann's meticulousness and attention to detail deters the film from its' objective...
posted on 29 Mar 2009Michael Mann's meticulous attention to detail has proven to be one of his strongest characteristics in past films such as 'Heat' and 'The Insider'. Yet in Mann's Muhammad Ali biopic 'Ali', it is that very same facet of creation that slowly winds this film down into an authentically detailed, yet disappointingly inorganic piece of film. 'Ali' opens with an exhausting musical montage that intercuts between Ali's introductory sequences of his personal life and a singing crooner in a jazz club. Despite being beautifully filmed, and being timed perfectly and succinctly to the images on screen, it is that meticulousness to detail that sweeps the essence of the film from under us. Mann wants to convey a personal, intricate and subtle, stylish piece of film in which he unwittingly sacrifices development and depth in order to achieve a great looking film. Mann uses his widescreen lens beautifully in order to capture some tense-filled moments especially when showcasing Malcolm X's (Mario Van Peebles) descent into rejection by his very people. His framing is impeccable especially when displaying the ruggedness of a jog into the night, or the brutality of a boxing match. Furthermore, if one were to pay close attention, he uses a myriad of intentional out of focus shots to seize the frenzy contained within some scenes. Some might argue that Mann went the wrong direction in choosing to create Ali's biopic, others might argue that all these classy shots, stylish angles and strong performances cannot redeem a film from an erratic script. Gregory Allen Howard's penned script focuses primarily on the 10 years of Ali's life leading up to his historical battle of 'The Rumble in the Jungle' in Zaire versus George Foreman. While quite possibly over dramatizing at times, the script retains an interesting element that was not expected - and perhaps unnecessary. The first act sees Malcolm X having an instrumental role on Cassius Clay's beliefs leading up to, and after his name change to Muhammad Ali. X's role in the first part of the film is so predominant that at times it seems as if we are watching a Malcolm X piece instead of 'Ali'.The script as aforementioned focuses on 10 years of Ali's life and sees several marriages, several conflicts and several fights all within the course of this 2 hour and 39 minute film. Will Smith plays 'Ali' with versatility and exudes the arrogance the real Ali was no stranger to. Smith's mannerisms are impeccable; his delivery is flawless (note the 'you are my oppressors' out of court scene) and Smith truly shows the audience that he wants us to know he can do this. Smith's real life wife Jada Pinkett Smith plays Ali's first wife who converted to the Muslim Religion in a small yet memorable role. Notice the unnecessary love scene as a poor excuse to use this real life couple as a means to display the love of the two characters. In addition, we go through other wives and deep flirtations as Ali works his way to the film's climax - 'The Rumble in the Jungle'. Joining Smith in the part that steals Smith's thunder is Jon Voight as ABC sports caster Howard Cosell. Voight's acting is a real treat to watch especially if one knows how the real Howard Cosell spoke in his broadcasts. Furthermore, Mann does a terrific job at capturing the interplay between the on air quarries and behind the scenes admiration for Ali and Cosell. Ron Silver also joins the cast as Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer. And it would be a sin not to mention the underrated Jeffrey Wright as Howard Bingham; who although not having a dominant role in the film, still captures your attention as a stuttering photographer. With this great cast and seemingly fantastic director, how can such a film not exceed expectations? Many theories will be in place. Yet, one aspect of this film are the drawn out sequences that occupy much of the film's length. There is indeed such a thing as detail, and then there is of course borderline obsession to detail. Unfortunately, Mann falls victim to the latter. One such event is the dramatic courting between Ali and his many women encountered within the film. Mann gets us into the very heart of these relationships and makes us truly understand Ali's perspectives. Yet, in comparison to how Mann incorporates these scenarios into the film, they are irrelevant. Furthermore, we track Ali's entourage and their wrongdoings as they all have no effect on Ali because of course he is the 'People's Champ'. Also, the most notable lacklustre facet of the film are Mann's disappointing fight sequences. Although Mann uses some great shots within these scenes including a view from the opponent's stomach as the punches land hard and strong; in a nutshell, these scenes are too long. They are stretched out and have too much of a build up for too little a pay off as Ali's devastating one shot jab that sends the opponent to the mat. One of the harshest criticisms about the film will be the length. This in turn affects the pacing which could have easily been rectified by trimming down many sequences that really wanted to 'drill' in the symbolism attempting to be conveyed. Notice Ali's trek in Zaire as he abandons his entourage while on a jog and steps into the brazen neighbourhoods as he studies the graffiti on the wall as his inspiration for his big fight. That one sequence alone could have sped up the pace and got us to the climax quicker. Furthermore, Mann uses his cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki repeatedly to frame his love for musical sequences. Whether it's an actual musical performance or a montage, Mann stays that extra minute longer than necessary that adds up in the final cut. It might seem a tad harsh as to aforementioned critiques, yet in this film despite a surprisingly strong Will Smith and a great cast; the film never takes off and gives us a full involvement into Ali's life. There is without a doubt an extraordinary and painstakingly great amount of detail and craftsmanship put into the film, yet the final result is a film that will not be remembered like the man in which it is based upon.Giancarlo's Rating: ** (out of four)
Too Bad...
posted on 21 Mar 2009Wow, this movie could have been so much more. The scenes were too long, the story lacked focus and in the end I feel like I got cheated out of what should have been a great movie. Will Smith turns in the performance of his life! Did he bulk up or what? Man, he looked pumped. Jon Voight was great and Mario Van Peebles proved that he is not the worst black actor in Hollywood (close though), he did a good job as Malcolm X. Good actors doing great characterizations starring in a poor movie. Too bad.
I Agree With Most Of The Critics
posted on 17 Mar 2009As always the problem of getting someone to play Muhammed Ali is that they don`t have the charisma to play the great man , hell not even Ali could play himself convincingly in THE GREATEST so I didn`t think Will Smith star of weak Summer blockbusters like WILD WILD WEST or the MIB films was going to be much cop in the title roleI do think Michael Mann is a good director and is rather underrated due to the fact he started out in television . Mann does bring realism to the fight scenes in ALI , they`re maybe not as good as the ones in RAGING BULL but they still pack a punch ( Sorry couldn`t resist that one ) , compare the ring scenes here to the laughably bad ones seen in the ROCKY movies and you`ll notice a big difference . My only criticism of Mann in this film is that a few of the scenes outside the ring lack narritive drive with one of the characters saying something to another character and having the camer a linger too long on the characters moody look , but this is a minor flawThe serious flaw is something everyone else has pointed out and is something that I quickly noticed while watching ALI - The script is too overlong . I hadn`t read the readers comments untill I sat down to write this review so my views weren`t prejudiced but most of the reviewers are spot on , fight scenes feature as do politics , religion , Malcolm X , government spooks and Ali`s marital life and I can`t help thinking the whole film would have worked better if it had just focussed on Ali`s boxing career . As it is ALI isn`t a film I`d watch over and over again like RAGING BULLIt does have a positive point in its favour - The cast . If I hadn`t known what part Jon Voight was playing I`d have sat through the film wondering when he was going to turn up because he`s totally unrecognisable but he`s very good in his role . Ron Silver is almost unrecognisable but good as is Mario Van Peebles , but best of all is Will Smith as Muhammed Ali . Okay I could nit pick but that would be unkind and pedantic so all I`ll say is Smith deserved his Oscar nod
Failed in many ways...
posted on 11 Mar 2009It is hard to make a film like this good. I have really looking forward to watching this film since I have been very interesting in boxing history and I am also finding Muhammad Ali as a great person. He truly changed the world. This film is not bad but not good either. First when I heard that Will Smith should be in it I was a bit suprised, a comedian that stars in films like Bad Boys and Men in Black. Actually he was the main problem with this film. He was not powerful at all. I did not get touched of his acting and he made the film lost the feeling to watch it. It is very hard to make films like this and I think that if you don't know anything about this story you would like it. Ali's story is fashinating and I recommend you to watch "When We were kings" a documentary about the match against George Foreman in Zaire. 5/10
Basically, a MTV video
posted on 09 Mar 2009Sorry, but this did not cut the mustard for me at all. It was,basically, segments of Ali's life with vast spaces of music inbetween.
Will Smith was flawless and saved the movie from completebasement status, and no two ways and the acting was superb, butI have to say that I did not like this movie at all.
Way too much music, way to little Ali.
I Really Liked It!!!!!
posted on 05 Mar 2009This is 1st good attempt by anyone to make a biopic of the greatest boxer of all time, i have seen b movie versions and they are a waste of time to say the least.This movie however broke that finally and although reviews have been bad and monies taken in america werent as great as 1st expected, it did better here in england im happy to say and im glad it did.Will Smith plays the leading role to absolute perfection, his timing and everything is spot on, even the boxing scenes were breath taking, whether or not you like the film, Will Smith should not be overlooked for awards that are shortly coming up, if you dont believe this then remember that the man himself Mr Ali said he wanted Smith to play this role and was delighted when he was chosen.I cant really put into words how much i enjoyed this movie, many people who went to see it did not know much about Ali and what happened to him etc, but for those of you who are fans (like me) this will be a great watch (if only for Smiths performance). For those of you who expect to go out, watch this and learn about the man from this movie do not expect this as its not intended for this, its intended for those of you who know a lot about boxing history and Alis history.Anyhow thats enough, you make you own opinion im merely voicing mine
A fine work, more well-proportioned than it's given credit for being
posted on 25 Feb 2009The short cut to being counted as a genuine auteur is to use one utterly bizarre, unjustifiable device in each film. Here, it's the interpolation of digital footage. Every so often, in the middle of what is otherwise a real film, we'll get some muddy shots that were taken with a digital camera, sometimes shots of the very same kind of thing we'd just seen in 35mm. It doesn't happen very often (thank goodness). Why does it happen at all?Let's pretend it doesn't. All in all what's striking is how WELL the movie has been shot - yea, even with the shaky camerawork, which ruined "The Insider" but somehow makes us feel as though we're watching history itself here; besides which, it looks damned good, which is the main thing.I loathe boxing. I would be delighted to see it vanish off the face of the Earth. I have to strain to make myself believe that people actually paid to see the fights we see here - quite apart from anything else, how long do they last, half an hour? less? -And yet, I found myself seeing something of what other people see in the sport, as I watched the opening fight sequence and saw, actually SAW, that there IS more to it than two men punching each other until one of them falls over. (Television footage of actual boxing had never had any such effect on me.)The film sticks to a ten-year segment of Mohammed Ali's life and doesn't step outside it. "We see virtually nothing about how he was raised," says one writer here, "what his parents were like, what kind of values they instilled in him, what motivated him to become a boxer and, most importantly, what drew him so passionately to the creed espoused by the Nation of Islam." I chose this quote at random; hundreds of other people have said much the same thing, but unlike them, and unlike the person I've quoted, I see this as the film's primary strength, not a weakness at all.
Attempts to tell "the story" of so-and-so's life rarely come to anything much. The sin is always to try to include too much (and likely as not, fail). Here, we see events which we sense have a cause (they don't feel manufactured), even though we never see what the cause is, and if we don't always know what Ali is thinking or exactly what he is feeling, well, what of it? We're given enough to go on to make educated guesses. As with the superb "Topsy-Turvy", we're given a SEGMENT of history, which feels as though it's still connected to the pieces of history on either side of it, which nonetheless, when held up to the light like this, turns out to have a satisfying shape of its own.
Inaccurate, among other faults
posted on 21 Feb 2009Since this movie was just fictitious on so many things I do know about, I did not believe anything it said about things I didn't know about. Mann has taken rather severe liberties with plain, empirical, historical facts--for instance, the simple and egregious matter of putting Howard Cossell into the commentator role in the Liston fight (Steve Ellis, in fact, was the broadcaster), or inserting into the Liston fight an incident (Ali's being unable to see temporarily)from a much, much later fight--one of the Frazier fights, I think.And Will Smith is much less charismatic and entertaining than Ali. This is a joyless film, in which Ali's natural wit, and his world-class mastery of the role of raconteur, hardly appear.Skip it. You will only like it if you know no real history about the subject, and then you'll come away thinking you know things that just aren't true.
Unsentimental Tribute
posted on 21 Feb 2009Mohammed Ali is one of the most charismatic characters of the late 20th Century, and turning his life story into a movie must have been a daunting task. Ali was (and remains) a complicated man. He was the people's champion, who thought that African-American women who dated white men should be killed. He was an American hero who refused to fight in Vietnam. He was a devout Muslim who cheated on his wives at every opportunity. In short a fascinating, thorny force of nature who declared himself to be `The Greatest.' Director Michael Mann eschews regular storytelling tricks, opting for an impressionistic take on the material. Images fly past the viewer, moving the story along, but more importantly imprinting a sense of time and place that is palatable. Will Smith is up to the job of playing the champ in the charisma department, although lacks the stature to be completely believable as a heavy-weight boxer. All in all Ali is a fitting and largely unsentimental tribute to a man who lived his life in the public arena.
Don't write lies, unless you despise!!
posted on 07 Feb 2009I just got home from seeing "Ali." Mohammed Ali existed well before my time. The Ali I see and grew up watching is a crippled dying man, but tonight I saw a different Ali. Of course I've seen clips, and I emphasize clips, of the man who was the People's Champ box on television. But never have I seen the man fight another for the full amount of time he was in the ring. Tonight, I did. I didn't live in the Sixties, I didn't witness the atrocities by policing of the North Vietnamese in Vietnam, and I certainly didn't think this film skipped on those details. Think of the biographies, or those "from birth to death" films, and try to tell me those don't look cheesy or lose your interest. Look at the fake prosthetics or variety of unfortunate child actors stumbling up the life a revered individual. My point is that if I wanted to watch I documentary I would. I would go rent the old films, go to the library, search the internet for some armchair losers opinion. I wanted to see a film that would give me a glimpse in to the life of an individual I unfortunately couldn't grow up watching, and that is what I received.Micheal Mann has delivered several excellent pictures to our world. He has presented us with many opportunities to witness the spectacle that is life, whether it be a dying Indian tribe, a bank robber who knows sacrifice, and a modern man willing to risk it all to put an end to an addictive chemical pushing company. What a fine choice by the producers to choose him as the main man. His use of composition and silence, seen in "The Insider," work well at shadowing a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. It does not bother me to sit still for almost three hours to just gaze at a man's profile. And this is no ordinary man's story, it is the story of Muhammed Ali. I think he represented the man who was the champ well. Pacing the film in such a way that the viewer identifies the struggle, but it does challenge those viewers with attention deficit disorder. You are asked to put the pieces together and to follow along the tumultuous timeline, but remember, this is a man who did a lot, and again, people who are looking for greater depth, go watch "Life." Overall, I feel Micheal Mann represented a figure so dominant in and out of the ring, with a quiet dignity that the man so rightly deserves.Will Smith, characterized by his goofy, senseless, egotistical roles fills the shoes of the world's greatest in this biographical vignette. Not looking for much and blasted with an overhyped Oscar nod, I was trying not to expect anything. I was rewarded with a powerful performance. Not only was Will Smith's physical transition clearly recognizable, you can see the Ali he crawled into by looking into his eyes. As serious as he is about his role, and there is no other that I can think of to fill it, Will is able to use Ali's humor and not begin to show any signs of breaking down and getting jiggy with it. He gives a solid performance and it appears that roles which demand great physical metamorphosis (i.e. Cast Away) create Oscar buzz, than so be it, however, it was the actors performance which sold me, not the muscle.Clearly this film was meant to be a nod to the greatest boxer who ever lived, and thankfully it wasn't sugarcoated. It shows the struggles of a man being pulled in a variety of directions and who only aimed at greatness. Micheal Mann delivered a great picture, and Will Smith performed to his true ability. I loved this film, and I appreciated its honesty. If I missed something, I'll read a book about it, but for now, I'll stick to watching Mann's vision of a fighter who won more than titles. Nine out of ten.
good, but not quite great
posted on 03 Feb 2009I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this one. Will Smith gives an absolutely dynamic performance. Jamie Foxx also gives a surprisingly good performance in a dramatic role. Smith looks great in the ring, and the fight scenes are fantastic, even better than those of the Rocky movies. The only problems I had were that it goes on too long and skips roughly from scene to scene. There are many funny moments between Ali and Howard Cosell, though Jon Voight seems slightly miscast. Overall, worth watching but not necessarily buying on video. 3/4
A disappointing movie
posted on 02 Aug 2009I looked forward to seeing this movie for a long time. Unfortunately, Will Smith does not capture the deep solidity Ali brings to life.Throughout the legal battle over the draft, Smith portrays a sullen person refusing, for no particular reason, to be inducted.My memory of this period in Ali's life is that he was open, honest and steadfast in his refusal to be drafted. The man never shrank (publicly) from the consequences of his decision, a decision based on principle, not on whim.In this film, Ali not only seems smaller than his public image, he seems smaller than life. If this is the "real" Muhammad Ali, how did he ever hold anyone's attention? As I remember the real person, he was loud, engaging, charismatic and exceptionally tough. Not a comic book superhero, simply an amazing man. In this movie, there is nothing amazing.