A complete miss

Rating: 7/10 (17 November 2002)

This film just has so many things wrong with it starting from the very opening sequence. In that sequence we see Cassius Clay preparing for his upcoming title fight with Sonny Liston in Miami. While seeing him prepare, we see Liston destroying an opponent in the ring. We also see the hints of racial tension going on in southern USA, 1964. The entire sequence lasts approximately 8-10 minutes. It is long, drawn-out, and boring. It's the perfect opening sequence for this film.
That's because that's exactly how this movie feels : long, drawn-out, and boring.
How could someone make a film about Muhammad Ali's life & manage to make the film boring ?!?!? Here's some ways : have long (and unnecessarily drawn-out) scenes (ie : the dance scene where he meets his first wife), or simply have recreations of now-famous media scenes (the Cosell scenes ; the pre-fight scenes). I understand the need for these scenes, but I would rather watch the actual scenes than a recreations of them.
By concentrating on such aspects of Ali's life, Michael Mann totally bypasses what I feel could have been more interesting aspects of Ali's life. For instance, I would have liked to see more of the conversation between the newly-named Ali & his father, as they argue on the significance of the "Clay" name. That scene had the potential to be very revealing. I also would have liked to have seen more of Ali's first visit to Africa, when he went on his Muslim pilgrimage. Instead, the whole event is used as a way to say goodbye to Malcolm X in the film. To me, that whole part of the film could have been very significant. What did Ali see when he went on the pilgrimage ? How did it affect his life ? Did he recall any of Africa when he went back there to fight Foreman ? We'll never know from this film.
I would like to have seen more scenes such as him and Joe Frazier in the car together. That was one of my favorite scenes in the movie. It gave me a chance to see more of something that is impossible for me to ever see : an actual private conversation between Ali & Frazier.
But there are tons of other things that are left out of the film as well. For instance, after Ali loses to Frazier in the first fight, we don't really even get a chance to see how his first loss as a professional affects his life. This is Muhammad Ali ! How did it feel to him to lose for the first time in his life ? Eventhough Ali played it off in the media as if it didn't affect him, did it in reality ? We'll never know from this film.
The pacing of the film was just terrible. As I said, the opening sequence was long, drawn-out, and boring - and was the perfect opening sequence for this film. That's because it is a microcosm of the entire film.

You want bad pacing ? Try this : It actually took the entire first 55 minutes of this film for Cassius Clay to actually defeat Sonny Liston ! The opening sequence was all about him prepping for the fight, and it continued on to the weigh in of the fight, and the prefight comments etc. Then the fight itself was actually quite boring.
More bad pacing : The film goes into the mid-sixties in a daze. It doesn't really start to show anything until finally Ali has his now-famous interview with Cosell. In this scene Cosell tells him behind the scene how the government is worried of black militant groups. That is when I felt the film MIGHT start to become more interesting. I looked at my watch to see that nearly 2 HOURS had passed in the film !
Even MORE bad pacing : Ali gets his fight with Frazier. Ali loses the fight. But we as the audience never really get to see the true level of brutality of that fight. Between that and the "Thrilla In Manila" (which was completely dropped from the film) we never really get a chance to see the true damage that those two fighters endured and delivered in their fights against one another. Instead, we see glimpses of the fight, Ali's knockdown, and a few other aspects. But really it just goes straight to the next scene after that, which has Ali & his crew watching Foreman defeat Frazier. (Like I said, no concern is given on how Ali's first loss affected his psyche). After that, it is straight to Ali-Foreman. Full "Rumble In The Jungle" : Don King, Africa, Zaire etc etc.
This was actually probably the best part of the film. The film takes on a more "personal" look at Ali when he is prepping for the fight in Zaire. We get to see him connecting with the people. Again, I would have liked to see if he recalled anything from his previous visit to Africa - but that was not to be.
Even worst, the Foreman fight managed to look boring ! Still, while the fight itself looked boring, I will admit that Michael Mann did a brilliant job with showing the now-famous Foreman knockout punches by Ali. The angles he uses are different with each punch, and it is a very good perspective.
Other aspects of this film bothered me. For instance, was Ali REALLY on the phone with someone who was with MLK a second before he was assassinated ? That seems far-fetched to me.
The only thing keeping this film from being a complete waste of film is Will Smith's performance here. Smith does indeed do everything that one can hope from someone who is portraying Ali. However, when you get right down to it, I think there are simply some people who it is more exciting to watch in a documentary or biography, rather than a Hollywood film production.
So with that in mind, watch "When We Were Kings" for anything you would want to know about "The Rumble in the Jungle" or HBO's documentary on Ali-Frazier I. If you want a more interesting perspective on Ali's life in general, then watch ESPN's documentary on him - they didn't name him the Athlete of the Century for nothing.