Review of Ali (2012) by Tim D — 04 Dec 2011

Disappointingly reverential biopic about heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali (Will Smith) that covers the years 1964-1974, from the defeat of Sonny Liston, when he was known as Cassius Clay, ending with the "Rumble in the Jungle" fight against George Foreman.

Will Smith is charismatic as Ali but his performance is mostly an impersonation. Ali's brash facetiousness has been truncated in favor of a somber, introspective portrait. Director Michael Mann seems to have been intimidated by the man and the material; this is a story that feels like it has been told from the outside.

By focusing on this brief era of Ali's life the filmmakers ignored the sad irony of his later life when this robust athlete was reduced to enervation as the result of Parkinson's disease caused by boxing.

The fight scenes have been shot and edited kinetically but there are extraneous scenes of Ali running that go on too long. Written by Mann, Eric Roth, Steven J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson. Cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki.

With Jon Voight, giving a vocal impersonation as Howard Cosell; Jamie Foxx as Drew Bundini Brown; Mario van Peebles as Malcolm X; Ron Silver as Angelo Dundee; Jeffrey Wright as Howard Bingham; Mykelti Williamson as Don King; Jada Pinkett Smith as Ali's first wife, Sonji Roi.