Better if You're an Ali Fan

Rating: 5/10 (29 January 2002)

Seeing "Ali" is like going to the opera: you need to familiarize yourself with the story before you go. Brush up on not only Ali's career stats, but on his personal info as well. If you don't, you'll probably be confused through much of the movie, like I was. The movie tends to spend a lot of time on one scene, then leaps ahead several months or even years with no explanation. Ali gets new wives and has kids, but the movie doesn't even stop long enough to let you know that he had gotten divorced from the previous wife. My dad, however, who is obsessed with Ali and is quite familiar with his life story, really enjoyed the movie. It is an entertaining and nicely done movie, but if you don't already know what's going to happen, the confusion and frustration is very distracting.