Another breathtaking show from Mann.

Rating: 8/10 (8 January 2008)

Mann put a lot of pressure on his head by attempting to create a film that not only tackled the tumultuous ten year dramatic highpoint of Muhammed Ali's life, but also covered the political conflicts and protests of the times and the vast scope of the civil rights movement including the deaths of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. It's a lot to handle in one film that runs under three hours, and I do feel that he should have spent some more time on the lives of possibly the two greatest revolutionaries in American history, but for the running time I don't think anyone could have handled it better than Mann. His distinctive style, mostly through the camera-work, shines through here as always and it never fails to be a pleasure to watch. He makes everything so sleek and engaging that, even when the scenes are dragging a bit, your eyes remained glued to the screen. Though I do wish he would have used a soundtrack closer to the ones he used in Collateral and Miami Vice, instead of the more jazz-focused one for this but I understand his reasoning.
The performances are just sensational all around. Smith delivers one of the best of the year and I commend the Academy for recognizing such brilliance. He completely immerses himself into Ali and does nothing short of absolutely becoming the man. It feels like you're actually watching him. Jon Voight undergoes one of the most amazing transformations I've ever seen. I didn't even know who he was playing until the credits rolled. Jamie Foxx also delivers an exceptional work. His emotional trauma is palpable, and I wish that Mann would have spent a bit more time on him. Most biopics go through so much cheesy sentimentality that it becomes a chore to watch by the end, but Mann goes in a completely opposite direction and presents a hard-hitting, realistic drama that doesn't pull any punches. The boxing scenes are the greatest in film history, from my perspective. Most films use slow motion and fancy camera techniques to make boxing more dramatic, but Mann just puts the camera in the ring and presents it all exactly how it is, just like he does with all of his films. The man is a cinematic genius, easily one of the greatest directors of all time, and this is just another example.