Sadly I'm old enough to remember Ali from his upcoming to his retirement. Smith does a very accurate portrail of Ali, some parts I could swear it was the real man. I was aware of most of the plot, but a few surprises got me good!!!
Thaught it would've been more fights involved however it was a political half fights half personal life just as it was the 2.5 -3 star that we get it from being great & fair. But will smith and Cosel acting spot on!
Ali is a substantial biopic that follows the career of Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali from 1964--when he took the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston--to 1974, when he took it back from George Foreman in Zaire. Along the way, the film looks at Ali's three marriages and his problematic involvement with the Nation of Islam, which inspires him to change his name, get rid of his first wife (Jada Pinkett Smith) and turn his back on old ally Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles).
For a fiercely independent person, Michael Mann's Ali has a knack of alienating those who genuinely love him, while chasing the approval of dubious father figures such as the Reverend Elijah Mohamed, Don King and President Mobutu. Although Ali is not a hagiography--Mann urging Will Smith to get into the many layers of Ali, from the mouthy public face to the quieter private person--the question of whether either of the Liston fights were fixed isn't even raised, and the fall of Ali's career is left out in favour of a climax that draws heavily from the documentary When We Were Kings. Mann is as interested in the politics as he is in the sport (which leaves actors like Ron Silver as the coach short-changed), offering occasional cutaways to the government spies and plants in the black movements. More knockout blows are offered in the speeches than in the ring. --Kim NewmanRead full review
Well worth the 3 Bucks I paid. Will Smith TRUELY captured Ali in the ring!
I remember Mr. C. Clay as a boy listening to his early fights in the night with my small transistor radio hidden in my pillow case. I remember when he changed his name to M. Ali. My Step Father followed Ali's career and I too watched every fight as well as his H. Cosell interviews. Will Smith has seriously "nailed" what I knew of Ali. This movie is quite confusing, and hard to follow. There was much that I did not know about Ali's life, the infidelity, the struggles over his name change, the odd connections, etc. My wife and I found the movie to be difficult to follow at times, but still a good movie. Through W. Smith's excellent acting, wonderful memories came back as he portrayed the humor and personality of Ali quite well from the "sting/move/lean back" to the "roper dope" he did a fine job in this movie of "becoming" the man Ali was in the ring. Two thumbs up for Smith, and one thumb down for the confusion.Read full review