Heartfelt, brutal, emotional

Rating: 8/10 (26 August 2009)

This is a good film, i enjoyed it a lot. One of the main problems however is that although Will Smith gives one of his best performances (with the possible exception of Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happiness) it still looks and feels like I'm simply watching Will Smith as Muhammed Ali. This wouldn't be a big problem if it weren't for the fact that this is supposed to be about a real-life character. I think the problem lies in the fact that Will Smith is too famous to be given a role like this, it should have been given to an unknown so that most of the film isn't spent watching Will Smith as Ali but someone who we don't know as Ali because this would have been more convincing already. It is a good film though, set in rough times for ethnic minorities in the US. You can really feel the emotion, especially during Ali's downfall, and comeback. The best scene is Smith running through the streets of Kinshasa, Zaire before Rumble in the Jungle, followed by kids shouting his name. Does go on a bit too long though.