Ali
Y
Dec 17, 2001
This review was written for the theatrical release of "Ali."
"Ali" is not the Greatest. The movie reminds you of Muhammad Ali's boxing style -- elusive, showy, feigning this way and that, but always out of range. Director Michael Mann has guts to try to capture Ali's essence on film. Even Ali couldn't do it when he played himself in the 1977 feature "The Greatest." "Ali" isn't a total failure as Mann, working with Will Smith, who makes a credible Ali, collects several golden moments from this amazing American life. But the connective tissue is missing.
Curiosity alone will give Sony big opening numbers as even those too young to know much about the champ will turn out to see a muscled-up Smith play this larger-than-life figure. But the film's length might hurt grosses, and "Ali" will probably not enjoy much repeat business.
Mann tips you off in the opening 30 minutes to his impressionistic approach. He cuts between a 1964 Sam Cooke concert and a lithe, lightning-quick 22-year-old, then known as Cassius Clay, preparing for a championship fight with brutish Sonny Liston. Famous people duck in and out: Here's Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles) and there's legendary trainer Angelo Dundee (Ron Silver). As Cassius rhythmically punches the speed bag, Mann flashes to the past: A small black boy is led by his daddy to the back of a Southern bus. The boy stares in horror at a newspaper story of a lynching.
Initially, Mann's willingness to bypass the usual "biopic" avenues gives "Ali" a charge. But skipping details to get to the big moments keeps the film from ever delving into Ali's life: A wife (Jada Pinkett Smith) goes, another wife (Nona Gaye) comes. Malcolm X gets murdered, Ali cries for a minute. Then it's off to Zaire.
Unlike "When We Were Kings," Don Gast's monumental 1996 documentary about the Ali-George Foreman matchup in Zaire, the movie never gives you any sense of Ali's strategies in or out of the ring. Mann replicates the famous matches accurately but offers no hints of Ali's "game plans." Similarly, the film catalogs Ali's conversion to Islam, his refusal to accept induction into the Army, the subsequent stripping of his title and boxing license and his eventual triumph in the Supreme Court, but is light on details. Indeed, the film often portrays Ali's political convictions as the snap judgments of a headstrong but often ignorant man.
The movie glosses Ali's private life even more. The boxer spends more time here with sportscaster Howard Cosell (Jon Voight in an uncanny bit of mimicry) than he does with either wife. As the film ends, Ali is cheating on his second wife without any resolution to this marital crisis.
Smith is a diligent worker in "Ali." He has penetrated Ali's speech rhythms and wordplay, caught his mannerisms and delivers insights into the frustrations of a man who has taken on the entire U.S. government. And he almost convinces you he could stand in the ring with a heavyweight. But, shockingly, Silver remains completely in the background as Dundee, a key influence on Ali, while Jamie Foxx's eccentric trainer, Drew "Bundini" Brown, gets perhaps too much screen time.
Technical credits are solid. Emmanuel Lubezki's camera darts and glances, often in harsh natural light. Gloved hands landing on flesh and bone sound like small explosions. Composers Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke make a major contribution, mixing gospel flavors and African melodies with a traditional movie score.
ALI
Columbia Pictures
Columbia in association with Initial Entertainment Group
presents a Peters Entertainment/Forward Pass production
in association with Lee Caplin/Picture Entertainment Corp. and Overbrook Films
Producers: Jon Peters, Paul Ardaji, A. Kitman Ho, Michael Mann
Director: Michael Mann
Screenwriters: Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson, Eric Roth, Michael Mann
Story by: Gregory Allen Howard
Executive producers: Howard Bingham, Graham King
Director of photography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Production designer: John Myhre
Music: Lisa Gerrard, Pieter Bourke
Costume designer: Marlene Stewart
Editors: William Goldenberg, Stephen Rivkin, Lynzee Klingman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali: Will Smith
Drew Brown: Jamie Foxx
Howard Cosell: Jon Voight
Malcolm X: Mario Van Peebles
Angelo Dundee: Ron Silver
Howard Bingham: Jeffrey Wright
Don King: Mykelti Williamson
Sonji: Jada Pinkett Smith
Belinda: Nona Gaye
Running time -- 154 minutes
MPAA rating: R
"Ali" is not the Greatest. The movie reminds you of Muhammad Ali's boxing style -- elusive, showy, feigning this way and that, but always out of range. Director Michael Mann has guts to try to capture Ali's essence on film. Even Ali couldn't do it when he played himself in the 1977 feature "The Greatest." "Ali" isn't a total failure as Mann, working with Will Smith, who makes a credible Ali, collects several golden moments from this amazing American life. But the connective tissue is missing.
Curiosity alone will give Sony big opening numbers as even those too young to know much about the champ will turn out to see a muscled-up Smith play this larger-than-life figure. But the film's length might hurt grosses, and "Ali" will probably not enjoy much repeat business.
Mann tips you off in the opening 30 minutes to his impressionistic approach. He cuts between a 1964 Sam Cooke concert and a lithe, lightning-quick 22-year-old, then known as Cassius Clay, preparing for a championship fight with brutish Sonny Liston. Famous people duck in and out: Here's Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles) and there's legendary trainer Angelo Dundee (Ron Silver). As Cassius rhythmically punches the speed bag, Mann flashes to the past: A small black boy is led by his daddy to the back of a Southern bus. The boy stares in horror at a newspaper story of a lynching.
Initially, Mann's willingness to bypass the usual "biopic" avenues gives "Ali" a charge. But skipping details to get to the big moments keeps the film from ever delving into Ali's life: A wife (Jada Pinkett Smith) goes, another wife (Nona Gaye) comes. Malcolm X gets murdered, Ali cries for a minute. Then it's off to Zaire.
Unlike "When We Were Kings," Don Gast's monumental 1996 documentary about the Ali-George Foreman matchup in Zaire, the movie never gives you any sense of Ali's strategies in or out of the ring. Mann replicates the famous matches accurately but offers no hints of Ali's "game plans." Similarly, the film catalogs Ali's conversion to Islam, his refusal to accept induction into the Army, the subsequent stripping of his title and boxing license and his eventual triumph in the Supreme Court, but is light on details. Indeed, the film often portrays Ali's political convictions as the snap judgments of a headstrong but often ignorant man.
The movie glosses Ali's private life even more. The boxer spends more time here with sportscaster Howard Cosell (Jon Voight in an uncanny bit of mimicry) than he does with either wife. As the film ends, Ali is cheating on his second wife without any resolution to this marital crisis.
Smith is a diligent worker in "Ali." He has penetrated Ali's speech rhythms and wordplay, caught his mannerisms and delivers insights into the frustrations of a man who has taken on the entire U.S. government. And he almost convinces you he could stand in the ring with a heavyweight. But, shockingly, Silver remains completely in the background as Dundee, a key influence on Ali, while Jamie Foxx's eccentric trainer, Drew "Bundini" Brown, gets perhaps too much screen time.
Technical credits are solid. Emmanuel Lubezki's camera darts and glances, often in harsh natural light. Gloved hands landing on flesh and bone sound like small explosions. Composers Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke make a major contribution, mixing gospel flavors and African melodies with a traditional movie score.
ALI
Columbia Pictures
Columbia in association with Initial Entertainment Group
presents a Peters Entertainment/Forward Pass production
in association with Lee Caplin/Picture Entertainment Corp. and Overbrook Films
Producers: Jon Peters, Paul Ardaji, A. Kitman Ho, Michael Mann
Director: Michael Mann
Screenwriters: Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson, Eric Roth, Michael Mann
Story by: Gregory Allen Howard
Executive producers: Howard Bingham, Graham King
Director of photography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Production designer: John Myhre
Music: Lisa Gerrard, Pieter Bourke
Costume designer: Marlene Stewart
Editors: William Goldenberg, Stephen Rivkin, Lynzee Klingman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali: Will Smith
Drew Brown: Jamie Foxx
Howard Cosell: Jon Voight
Malcolm X: Mario Van Peebles
Angelo Dundee: Ron Silver
Howard Bingham: Jeffrey Wright
Don King: Mykelti Williamson
Sonji: Jada Pinkett Smith
Belinda: Nona Gaye
Running time -- 154 minutes
MPAA rating: R
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