"I ain't got to be what nobody else want me to be, and I ain't afraid to be what I want to be..."

Rating: 8/10 (6 November 2006)

My youth and young adulthood coincided with Muhammad Ali's rise to the Heavyweight Championship, and I followed his bouts whenever they were shown on TV. Thankfully it was a time before routine fifty dollar pay per view cable events. However even though Ali's name had become a household word, I didn't know a lot about his private life, or the deeply held convictions that retreated behind the front page headlines. "Ali" does a nice job of chronicling the roughly ten year span between his first title win and the defeat of George Foreman after being stripped of the championship.
Those who tune in and expect boxing to take center stage might be disappointed; many reviews on this forum express that. That might be missing the point of the film, as there are enough documentaries, interviews and fight films to pursue if that's what one is looking for. Director Michael Mann instead concentrates on Ali's Nation of Islam connection, his friendship with Malcolm X, the shattering of his ties with Elijah Muhammad, and ultimately the loss of the world title as a result of his refusal to be drafted. Besides presenting a sports hero, the film presents a human being showing the world that it's important to live by one's principles.
I was intrigued by the almost symbiotic relationship revealed by the story between Ali and legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell (Jon Voight in a take notice role). If you caught their famous verbal battles back in the day, you would swear they were mortal enemies, yet even though they seemed to enjoy taking shots at each other, the scene during the Wide World of Sports segment showed just how loyal Cosell was to the Champ. It was also interesting to watch Ali's defense of trainer Angelo Dundee (Ron Silver) during a pre fight briefing with promoter Don King; it showed that Ali wasn't a big fan of King.
The biggest surprise of the story for me - Joe Frazier agrees to defend the title against Ali as the two men meet privately, with not a manager, promoter or lawyer in sight. Just two men agreeing to get it done, with a lot at stake for both winner and loser.
The most inspirational moment, aside from actually winning the championship, is the training run in Kinshasa, Zaire, as the locals turn out to celebrate a hero. One wonders what had to be going through Ali's mind as he witnessed that turnout, it appeared incredibly moving on film.
Undoubtedly, this was Will Smith's career role, and he pulled it off convincingly. He managed to capture the essence of the boxer and the man, earning the real Muhammad Ali's respect in the process, and what could be better than that.