travesty

Rating: Null/10 (19 May 2004)

i have loved the legend since i was a kid. just as i was hitting my teens, he was on his way out via larry holmes. cant tell u how sad i was that day even tho i never saw him 'live' at his peak. i cant tell u how i felt when a biopic was announced. a lot of people disagreed with the choice of will smith, but i knew he would b very good, because we need someone who has that certain something, which will smith has. even tho hes all the wrong height/type etc. and when i read that michael mann had stepped in 2 direct, it seemed like a marriage made in heaven. 4 2 long people have 4gotten who and what muhammad ali was. simply put, a living legend and the greatest sportsman who ever lived, and thats not just my opinion, but a fact. when i saw the film. disappointed, no. gutted, yes. how could the perfect pair screw it up so badly? that certain 'something' that attracted everyone, and i mean everyone without prejudice 2wards him was totally non existent in this movie. again, a 'hollyood' biopic of a black man was filmed with the violins playing in the background. he suffered yes, but did it dent him? hell no! thats what makes him an extraordinary fellow, as if he knows, mans, and his own life is but a mere journey in the great scheme of things. altho the recreation of the fights was very good, everything else, and i do mean everything was totally misjudged. it just seemed like a long boring trudge thru an extraordinary life. professional people were drawn 2 him because of his total command of his chosen profession, but everyone else, because of his humour, and childlike innocence. even if u hated the man, which a lot of biggots did, even they could not deny that was capable of putting a smile on their faces. even 2 this day, people will cross continents 2 b in his company, if only 4 a few minutes. but would u want 2 spend anytime with the muhammad ali from 'ali'? don't think so.