Fairly good portrait of the complex man who became Ali.

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 2003)

I believe the film "Ali" was doomed from the start to be "average" by choice of Will Smith in the lead role. Not that I have anything against Smith as an actor. To the contrary, he was perfect for the roles he played in "Six Degrees of Separation", "Men in Black", and "The Legend of Bagger Vance." But Smith will always be the Fresh Prince, or something close to it. He could not "become" Ali the way Denzel became Rueben Hurricane Carter, or the way Robert DeNiro became Jake LaMotta. When I watched "Ali" I saw the Fresh Prince, because Smith's range as an actor simply is not broad enough for him to be a credible Ali. I am just a few years younger than Ali, I was being drafted at the same time he was, I remember him well, and during this film I never felt like I was watching anything even close to the real Ali.
The second problem is one of film editing. This film goes on for a full 2.5 hours. It would have been an absorbing 90 minutes, but the editors just kept in too much slow-moving and partly relevant film, with recreated boxing matches that go on way too long, such that I found the last hour very hard to stay interested in.
With my gripes out of the way let me say that the film does a good job of showing Clay's and Ali's origins, the places and people that contributed to his formation, his surprising rise to World Champ, the way he taunted his opponents, often with poetry, his battle with the courts to avoid being drafted and sent to Viet Nam. There is no doubt that in his prime Ali was arguably the best heavyweight prize fighter ever. He inspired a lot of people but he was also a very flawed person. This film, "Ali", the first hour and the last fifteen minutes, presents a fairly interesting view of who we was.
Of particular note was the unlikely friendship that Ali developed with the late Howard Cosell. And for the film, the great job Jon Voight did in playing Cosell. Unlike Smith as Ali, Voight really "became" Cosell. Also Ron Silver playing Ali's ringside manager. The DVD is acceptably sharp, with Dolby 5.1 sound that never stands out. There are no "extras" to speak of on the DVD. I bought it used at Blockbuster, in like-new condition, for all of $5.