Skipped Parts

Rating: 6/10 (1 May 2002)

Will Smith has charm and grace, but little else as far as acting chops, so it surprised me when he nailed this role so beautifully. It's a damn shame they didn't put that performance in a better film.
I'm in a train car riding by Ali's life. The same detached storytelling technique was used in Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July," and while Tom Cruise was nominated for an Oscar for that film as well, both films left me feeling worn out and bewildered. Huge chunks of the stories were left out, and while some may deem that as acceptable because the subjects were so larger-than-life, I demand more from a film. Others have tried and succeeded before.
I didn't live through this historical era, but in addition to the above criticisms, from an aesthetic standpoint, I can say that Mario Van Peebles has the charisma of a wet noodle, and the ending left a lot to be desired.
There's a little Epilogue before the closing credits roll, and I want to know more about THAT. So Ali lost and regained his title in the late 1970's; does the movie make an effort to show why they're showing the Foreman fight and not the one ten years later? These are events I want to know about, even if the significance of them is something less than One Man standing against the Vietnam War.
Ali the man is significant enough. 6/10.