Biggest letdown in many years!

Rating: Null/10 (29 December 2001)

To begin on a positive note, Will Smith is excellent (but not Oscar worthy) as the world's most written about athlete of the 20th century, heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali. At every turn, Smith has his voice, mannerisms and ring steps in check. But this film is incredibly benign and shallow. Why is everyone making such a big deal about Jamie Foxx and especially Jon Voight as Howard Cosell? Both of these characters are under written and underplayed.
There is such great detail in Ali's life that virtually nothing is covered here. The film only details 1964-74 and tells us nothing about Ali's childhood and youthful rise as Cassius Clay and doesn't dive into his post boxing days when he learned he had Parkinson's disease. Also, the film has a scene near the beginning where Ali is jogging and they say on the screen that it is February 1964 and from there there is nothing on screen to guide us through the rest of the film to tell us when the film is taking place. As the film fades out, there is only about a five line explanation about the women in Ali's life and how he regained the title back for a third time.

All throughout this film, the boxing scenes are incredibly scattershot and this film has no adrenaline to give it the high charge and punch it needs and Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson who teamed up with Oliver Stone and wrote 1995's 'Nixon', did a very detailed job and along with director Michael Mann and Eric Roth, the four of them wrote 'Ali'. Mann and Roth wrote the incredibly complex 'The Insider' in 1999 and did a great job and Roth has an Oscar for writing 'Forrest Gump'. This is the best they can do with 'Ali'?
Too many night club scenes, too much time spent on the religious aspects of Ali's life and too much emphasis on the wandering socializing outside the ring bring 'Ali' into a place in history where I predict this film will not receive a single Oscar nomination. Not one! What a waste considering its subject matter and complex man. It has to be seen to be believed. For future generations, this is not the place to learn about Ali's life. Get your info off the net, like the writers of this film should have. You'll be better informed!