Great. Inevitable. Unnecessary(?)

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2002)

There is no doubt that Michael Mann is one of the foremost directors working today. His task here, though, is impossible. How can anyone, even the best of narrative filmmakers, really capture the life of such a familiar and beloved living legend? The Ali story being translated to film was unavoidable. It's an honorable effort in the hands of Mann and his performers.
Mann succeeds at wrapping the Ali story into a film that's meaningful in itself, rather than simply documenting a life. In the decade spanning 1964 to 1974, we see how Ali's life was such a paradox. With the blessing of Ali and his family, Mann breaks down the legend and studies the man. It shows a person who had too many allegiances, resulting in a lot of pain for many who knew and loved him.
The most profound moment is Ali standing before the drawings of him children have made on the walls in Kinshasa. As if he never realized how far reaching his impact has been, the picture depicts him using his boxing gloves to fight off jet fighters and tanks. Under this, the locals' chosen slogan, "Ali Bumbaya," which means, "Ali kill him." In that moment, all the sacrifices he'd made, standing up to the draft board, speaking out against the Vietnam War, sticking to his religious beliefs, seems to culminate in something. He can actually see the evidence of it through the eyes of children. This scene does contain a few anachronisms, such as showing a kid on a razor scooter--in 1974, and some of the clothing they wear.
The six fights (Liston, Liston, Quarry, Terrell, the first Frazier, and finally Foreman) are recreated with stunning accuracy. The voice-overs of what Ali was thinking I could have done without. It's in these scenes that Smith is able to inhabit the Ali character the most. These are the scenes you're really able to forget an actor is playing Ali and believe for a moment that you're really watching him fight. The film skips over Ali/Frazier II, barely mentioning it in fact, and goes straight to the "Rumble in the Jungle" with Foreman. This move sucks some of the drama away from how Ali wins back his title. It's also not made clear enough that Foreman was the champion at the time of the Zaire fight, having beaten Frazier, who'd beat Ali. Ali then beat Frazier in January of Â‘74 to earn the right to reclaim his belt. That second Frazier bout was critical and shouldn't have been swept aside.
Despite having to condense so many events into a short time, the film is cohesive, a major triumph for Mann. But too much of his life had been lived in public. There was so much TV coverage of him, of his fights, of his press conferences. He was, and still is, a very public person. That leaves a real life of imagery that's almost too powerful to try to tell better in a narrative film.
The Academy undoubtedly won't feel the need to nominate the film or its director for this reason. The film really doesn't have much that's new to say about the life of Muhammad Ali. To honor the film would do no more than honor the man. This is a position voters won't be comfortable with. They'll be content to leave the job of honoring Ali to the body who's already doing a fine job of it--sports writers, documentary filmmakers, and historians. I do believe that Columbia will promote Smith's performance enough to get him a much-deserved nomination. Some technical awards are possible as well, such as editing, cinematography, and original score.
Grade: B