Flaws aside, this is a dazzling visual achievement

Rating: Null/10 (17 February 2003)

Okay, okay. Will Smith is no Ali (but who would have been?). The Greatest is portrayed as more of a spectator to his life than as the Master of Ceremonies he truly was. It's a long film. Historical "compressions," particularly toward the end of the film, will annoy Ali scholars. Rather than a great piece of storytelling, it is a series of snapshots lacking context. And Mann borrows too liberally from Leon Gast's brilliant documentary, "When We Were Kings."
I contest none of these criticisms.
But most are so consumed by what this film ISN'T that they overlook what it IS -- a DAZZLING visual and aural achievement.
One breathtaking shot after another: The Sam Cooke club scenes during the opening credits, Smith's pre-dawn jog in Miami before the Liston fight, the slow-motion shot of Liston's mouthpiece falling to the canvas, the five-minute sequence of Smith's jog through the villages of Kinshasa, and, of course, the stunning closing shot.
For an aspiring cinematographer, this is a master class. The framing, lighting, mixing of film stock (?), richness of color, etc. make multiple viewings a must.
One could argue that the craftmanship gets in the way of the storytelling. And if Mann had billed the film as the Gandhi-like biopic viewers expected to see, this would be a valid critique. But Mann set out to create a stylized, if slightly self-absorbed, art film (God forbid) capturing a handful of key events in Ali's public life. By THAT measure, this film is a spectacular success.
For the boxing fan, the meticulously accurate set design for the fight venues ALONE (Miami Convention Center, MSG, Kinshasa's 25th of May Stadium) was worth the ticket price. Nor will the painstaking detail of the fight sequences be lost on those familiar with these famous fights.
The soundtrack, particularly in/around the the Liston and Foreman fight scenes, is among the best in recent memory, not only for the drama it lends to the scenes, but for capturing a vivid sense of time and place.
And while Jon Voigt has rightly been praised for his Cosell, perhaps the best performance belonged to Jamie Foxx as Ali's Cheerleader in Chief, Drew "Bundini" Brown.
If this film didn't meet your expectations, do yourself a favor and give it a second look.