Michael Mann captures an American sporting legend

Rating: 7/10 (15 March 2002)

Michael Mann's 'Ali' hasn't won many plaudits however I thought it had plenty to offer. I found many strands and elements to the portrait, that was effectively brought out in the fine acting performance by Will Smith. What stood out above all was the absolute pride and brashness of Ali. Here was a man always on fire, brimming with confidence. Some of his opponents set themselves up for defeat when they baited him, calling him Cassius Clay, his ancestors' slave name, rather than his Islam ordained name, Muhammed Ali. Ali was never going to cop anyone being condescending to him. Ali was super slick on his feet and even more slick with his brain. He was lethal at press conferences, showing as little mercy in them as he did in the ring. Ali and famous sporting broadcaster Howard Cossell developed a friendship however Ali was unrelenting in the barbed invective he threw at him. Ali, certainly stung like a bee sometimes! I found it interesting the way Ali's relationship with women was portrayed. His hotheadedness and charisma meant that he never had any problem making relationships with women. Keeping relationships was something altogether different. His arrogance and innate conservatism, fuelled by his religious faith, destroyed many relationships. Other themes that came across was Ali's strong, religious stance, converting from the Christianity he was brought up in, to change to Islam, and his strong sense of racial pride, captured best in the Zaire scenes. By no means a perfect film but one worth seeing and it gives one a little more of an insight into a unique, brilliant character.