Not the knock-out it could and should have been.

Rating: 6/10 (21 March 2002)

There was a lot of hype surrounding Ali, which it never really lived up to. It may have got two Oscar noms, but that's not even close to what was expected from The Insider-director Michael Mann. And the very disappointing box-office came as a surprise as well. But it's my belief that awards and ticket sales usually don't provide any measure of quality, so the question rises: Is Ali really a disappointment?
Well, the answer very much depends on what you are expecting. If you are expecting a straight biography, where all the facts of Ali's life are summed up en where we get some insight into the person behind the icon, you will not find it here. The film concentrates on the ten years between his beating Sonny Liston until the legendary Rumble In The Jungle-fight with George Foreman. And along the way, yes, multiple events are neatly ticked off the this-is-Ali's-life list. The women he married, the draft-dodging and his connection with Malcolm X are all there, but the way Mann approaches the material is far from the standard biography method. He flies past certain key moments in Ali's life while lingering on seemingly less relevant ones. He does this mainly by inserting long musical montages during which nothing really spectacular happens. This is definitely not as prosaic as most Hollywood biographies. And it also doesn't find much need to insert audience pleasing sappy nonsense like the more Oscarfriendly A Beautiful Mind. In fact, what Mann has created is an almost impressionistic view of Ali, more a tribute to the man than a biography.
This shows in one element particularly: although we get to see behind the curtains to catch a glimpse of Ali's home life, Mann never for a second explores his psyche. You won't come walking out of this film with any idea of why Ali did what he did. Mann doesn't seem interested in getting inside Ali's head, he's not concerned with his motivations. What he is concerned with is the actions Ali undertook that made him such an icon. It's rather disappointing that Mann doesn't attempt to show what the effects of these actions on society were. That does give the film a feel of shallowness. The fact that his interpersonal relations are so thinly sketched also makes it a relatively distanced film. Mann does start off brilliantly. The opening montage, accompanied by only one song of the top-notch soundtrack, shows Ali's confrontation with racism during his youth, his preparation for the Sonny Liston fight and a musical performance intercut together. It's a great way to start the movie, and it highlights the way an impressionist viewing of one's life can work, but subsequently it flies off track a little bit more by the minute, because you realise more and more this isn't going to be anywhere near as coherent or emotionally gripping as The Insider was.
Movie biographies are a tough genre I think (pretty much everything that attempts to be largely realistic is), A completely realistic biograhpy cannot exist, not just but also because of the fact a person's life has to be condensed into a less-than-three hour running time. Choosing what to include and thus what to exclude already changes the subject the film describes, so although the historical liberties taken here are slightly less extravagant' than in say A Beautiful Mind, the film still flies past interesting elements like the U.S. government fear of Ali's association with the Nation Of Islam (it is mentioned, but it is never really developed). This happens while the film at the same time does too much recreating of public events from Ali's life. While the way those scenes, the interviews, matches and other public appearances, are handled closely approaches the real-life look, dynamics and charisma of the actual events it does merely display the side we know of Ali, the charismatic athlete. If we wanted to see him, we'd pop the excellent Rumble In The Jungle documentary into the old VCR again.
Throughout, however, everything stays very watchable thanks to Mann's stylistically smooth direction. The only problem I have is with the boxing scenes. They may be very well shot (the digital shots really put you into the heat of the fight, yes) but after the third fight, kind of get bored with them. Maybe it's my personal disinterest with the sport, but I found the final fight with Foreman particularly tedious (especially since you know the ending anyway). And what about the acting? Well, Will Smith and Jon Voight may have gotten Oscar nominations but they are no match for the stars of either Heat or The Insider. Much of the problem lies in the script, but essentially Smith's impression of Ali is good (and better than anything he's ever done) and still nothing beyond an impression at the same time (the real Ali has got MUCH more charisma), whilst Jon Voight's performance is more a showcase of great make-up than of great acting.
Ali is definitely not trying to be a standard sumtotal-of-the-events biography. And it doesn't go for cheap heartstring plucking either. Whilst the movie does deserve some respect for that and whilst Ali is usually quite watchable it lacks the insight into the man it needs. Maybe Mann was hoping for Smith to provide the insight via his portrayal. Or maybe he simply shied away from making a real biography about the man. Maybe Spike Lee would have made this better (It'd almost certainly be more controversial), because what Mann has left us with is an acceptable but by no means memorable film, deeply inferior to his two previous efforts.
Rating: 6/10