Good title, but the movie lacked the punch

Rating: Null/10 (18 December 2001)

"Ali", a movie about Muhammed Ali, regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time had all the potential for being a great movie. Ali has always been bigger than life...loved by the people...loved by the media for his blatant arrogance...loved by many women...his life alone would have supplied any movie with enough material to make it a 'good' movie at the very least. The problem with "Ali" is that the story jumped from one portion of his life to another, the transition wasn't smooth...it was more erratic than anything else. Will Smith's portrayal of the "living legend" was good, but definitely not "Oscar" material, like some critics would suggest. There were a few times where he seemed uneasy, almost nervous, and there were scenes where the other "supporting" characters would take over the scene (Don King for example). Jon Voight's portrayal of the venerable Howard Cossell was surprisingly good and right on the money. Other cast members like Jamie Foxx who played Drew 'Brundini' Brown (one of Ali's trainers) was equally impressive, he surely made the most of his supporting role and displayed his versatility since he's always been cast in a comedy. The movie overall lacked cohesiveness, I did like Michael Mann's camera work...the constant movement of the camera in most scenes depicted the turmoil, confusion..and it mirrored the political upheaval of the 60's. It would have been nice if the movie started with his gold medal win in the 1960 Olympic games...which would have set the tone for the whole movie. And for all the 'Rocky' fans out there, the boxing scenes were a little played out...it almost looked boring....since most of us are used to the 'Rocky' style of movie boxing. Overall, Smith played Ali well...but his lack of versatility and the erratic transition of the story was the movie's downfall.