Ali

Plot synopsis:
The film begins with Cassius Clay, Jr. before his championship debut against then heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. During the pre-fight weigh-in Clay heavily taunts Liston (such as calling Liston a "big ugly bear"). In the fight Clay is able to dominate the early rounds of the match, but halfway through he complains of a burning feeling in his eyes (implying that Liston has tried to cheat) and says he is unable to continue. However, his trainer/manager Angelo Dundee gets him to keep fighting. Once Clay is able to see again he easily dominates the fight and right before round seven Liston quits, making Clay the second youngest heavyweight champion at the time after Floyd Patterson. Clay spends valued time with Malcolm X and the two decide to take a trip to Africa.
Clay is then invited to the home of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad where he is granted the name Muhammad Ali due to his status of World Heavyweight Champion. His father, Cassius Clay Sr. disapproves of this. Ali marries Sonji Roi, an ex-Playboy Bunny, despite her not being Muslim and not abiding by sex segregation. While at home with his wife and children, Malcolm X is called by the Nation of Islam and is informed that his suspension has been extended and Ali will not go to Africa. However, Ali takes the trip to Africa where he finds Malcolm X, but later refuses to speak to him, honoring the wishes of Elijah Muhammad. He is extremely distraught when Malcolm is later assassinated.
Upon returning to America, Ali goes against Sonny Liston a second time and knocks him out in the first round. He and Sonji divorce after she continually objects to certain obligations Muslim women have, notably wearing a hijab.
After being officially called to fight in the Vietnam War with the U.S. Army, Ali refuses, and is subsequently stripped of his boxing license, passport and title, additionally facing five years in prison. Ali marries 17-year-old Belinda Boyd. After a three-year hiatus, his conviction is overturned and in his comeback fight, he goes against Jerry Quarry and wins by technical knockout in three rounds when Quarry gets a cut in his eye.
Ali attempts to regain the Heavyweight Championship against Joe Frazier. Dubbed the Fight of the Century, Frazier has the upper hand against Ali for most of the rounds. In the fifteenth round, he defeats Ali by decision, giving Ali the first loss of his career. When Frazier loses the championship to George Foreman, Ali makes a decision to fight Foreman and become the first boxer to win his title a second time.
Foreman and Ali go to Kinshasa, Zaire for the Rumble in the Jungle fight. While there, Ali meets a woman named Veronica Porché, and has an affair with her. After reading rumors of his infidelity through newspapers, his wife Belinda travels to Zaire to confront him about this. Ali says he is unsure as to whether he really loves Veronica or not, and just wants to focus on his upcoming title shot.
For a good portion of the fight against Foreman, Ali leans back against the ropes and covers up, letting Foreman wildly throw punches at him. During the fight, Ali realizes that he has to react sooner or else he will be knocked out or possibly die in the ring. As the rounds go on, Foreman tires himself out and Ali takes advantage. He quickly knocks out the tired Foreman, and the film ends with Ali regaining the Heavyweight Championship of which he was previously stripped.

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
This film has characters galore: from Jamie Foxx as Bundini Brown, who keeps chanting "float like a butterfly, sting like a beeee!" when everyone in the world thought Ali was going to die at the hands of Sonny Liston; Jada PinkettSmith as Ali's devoutly religious and adoring first wife; MichaelMichele playing Veronica Porche, a beautiful jet set model with whomAli had an affair, to a strong performance by Mario Van Peebles as Ali's conscience; Malcolm X, who forces Ali to think against himself and his adoring Black Muslim following in the interests of right and wrong.This film has irony, choreography, conflict, humor, drama; and accurately portrays the highest highs of any public figure I've seen in my lifetime, as well as some of the most bitter defeats.This is about male psychology.
I've watched his boxing films dozens of times, and I'll tell you that the scenes in this movie are perfect reenactments of what actually happened in the ring.
There's just something boring about "Ali." It tells Muhammad Ali's story, and it does so with what could be mistaken for passion, but it just felt rote and lifeless to me, and far too long.Will Smith and Jon Voight were honored with Academy Award nominations for playing Ali and Howard Cosell, respectively, but clearly I'm not the only one to be underwhelmed by the film, as it bombed with audiences and couldn't even crack 7.0 here at IMDb.Grade: B-.
The first thing that I am prepared to acknowledge is Will Smith's performance in this film; he was impressive and seemed to really get into the character of Ali. Although his acting was excellent in this film, I don't believe that he should have been Oscar nominated.
I'm sure a lot of what I describe as 'melodrama' and 'soap opera' type events did occur in Ali's life, but these elements don't make for an entertaining film and should have been kept to a minimum.All of the above isn't helped by the fact that the screenplay felt like it was put together in a haphazard way - the writers would shift from one aspect of Ali's life to another in quick succession barely giving you chance to digest what you've just seen.Although from a technical perspective this film was generally well put together and polished I did feel that the camera work during the boxing matches was pretty poor and as a result I didn't feel quite as involved in the action as I did when I've watched other boxing films.
If you want to see a good boxing biopic then I would recommend Cinderella Man. Muhammad Ali may be the Greatest, but this film certainly isn't..
Well, 'Ali' is based on a real legend and not a super-hero and so it is hell of a job to portray such a personality on big screen and make it so entertaining to watch.The only downside of the movie was to focus a little longer on effect of Africa on him.
But the "Loud mouth" CHAMPs witty and "punchy" remarks in his real life along, with his big blows inside the ring, will keep you glued for more.Overall, Will Smith's hard-work, Mann's adaptation and Mohammad Ali's legendary life makes 'Ali' a must watch for movie goers..
His life since retiring from boxing is equally interesting, in my opinion, but since Mann wanted to depict the most dramatic and challenging aspects of the Ali legend, I can't blame him for his choice of time frame.The cast is very strong.
Smith doesn't really look anything like Ali, and you are occasionally aware (mainly through Smith's imitation of the greatest's very unique speech) that you are watching an imitation, but this does not in any way detract from the film.Highly recommended for those interested in real-life drama and heroism, the civil rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s, and the intelligent and political side of American sports.
Although Will Smith's performance in the film was hypnotically amazing, I must say the real star of the movie for me was Michael Mann.
Muhammad Ali always did it his way, and from the brilliant opening sequence (which breaks all kinds of rules of time and space) to the last scene, that's what Mann does, and with great style, as ever.
Yes, the fight scenes are boring, I never thought I'd say that about a movie, but I did, for Ali.The fact that Will Smith was nominated for an Oscar for this movie is offensive.
Because Ali's life can be told in a very Beautiful Mind'esque way.Show how Ali became the greatest, then let his world fall, show how he begins suffering from his disease, until he has to stop boxing, and end the movie with some sort of heroic end moment, maybe an award show, where Ali get's an award like, sportsman of the decade/century whatever (I don't actually know if he ever got something like that, but it's just an example).
Whoever was responsible (I guess director Michael Mann, who also directed the great film 'The Insider') must have just got so swept up in the life of Ali that it slipped his mind.The film is so long and boring I found it hard to keep my eyes open.
At times it is like we are seeing a 'best of' of Ali's life, and those reviews that praise how authentically the scenes of the movie recreate those from news footage of Ali only go to back up this point.The film is obviously well-made, and all the actors do a pretty good job, but it's just so damn BORING!.
As always the problem of getting someone to play Muhammed Ali is that they don`t have the charisma to play the great man , hell not even Ali could play himself convincingly in THE GREATEST so I didn`t think Will Smith star of weak Summer blockbusters like WILD WILD WEST or the MIB films was going to be much cop in the title roleI do think Michael Mann is a good director and is rather underrated due to the fact he started out in television .
Mann does bring realism to the fight scenes in ALI , they`re maybe not as good as the ones in RAGING BULL but they still pack a punch ( Sorry couldn`t resist that one ) , compare the ring scenes here to the laughably bad ones seen in the ROCKY  movies and you`ll notice a big difference .
My only criticism of Mann in this film is that a few of the scenes outside the ring lack narritive drive with one of the characters saying something to another character and having the camer a linger too long on the characters moody look , but this is a minor flawThe serious flaw is something everyone else has pointed out and is something that I quickly noticed while watching ALI - The script is too overlong .
I hadn`t read the readers comments untill I sat down to write this review so my views weren`t prejudiced but most of the reviewers are spot on , fight scenes feature as do politics , religion , Malcolm X , government spooks and Ali`s marital life and I can`t help thinking the whole film would have worked better if it had just focussed on Ali`s boxing career .
Probably Michael Mann intended to demystify Muhammad Ali; still I would appreciate if it were more fast-paced, more visually vivid, and more emotionally intense.While well-crafted cinematography seems over calculated at times, improvisational editing in the boxing game scenes properly recreates the jazzy atmosphere of the historic moments.
Director Michael Mann takes this individual and strips his life of heart and soul, making him so lacking in character that he's impossible to care for.Muhammad Ali is defined by his ego in this movie, not by his personality or any of the people in his life.
The omission of Clay being refused service in a diner upon his return from the Olympics and the 'Thrilla in Manila' leave huge holes in the make-up of the man and icon that is Muhammad Ali.The fight scenes are superbly choreographed using real boxers and this is part of another problem with the film  is it a documentary or a movie?.
Not that it mattered, as Tyson was kayoed by Buster Douglas, the man he opted to face in lieu of Foreman.)There are moments of great beauty in this film, and any true boxing fan needs to see it (if only for the beautifully-choreographed fight scenes, which put to shame the lame-brained antics in the ROCKY movies), but anyone who doesn't follow The Sweet Science may find themselves outside looking in..
The movie is just a bunch of scenes which are put together with no real coherent story, You never know how much time has passed, at one time they say something like 'He finally got his title back which was taken from him in 1967' but it's not clear in which year he got his title back (Maybe unless you are a ali/boxing fan), it wasn't even really clear in what year his title got taken..
Some scenes are much too long and have no real relation to the movie (Like Malcom X being shot, you see a whole 5 minute or so on him being shot, but you only see 10 seconds of ali in mourn about his 'friend'..
Ali was fighting and all I could think to myself was, man, that guy looks a lot like Will Smith....
I have really looking forward to watching this film since I have been very interesting in boxing history and I am also finding Muhammad Ali as a great person.
It seemed like every time a new character was shown on screen, they were never introduced by exposition.The movie jumped around locations a lot, and the dialogue was confusing at times, unless you already knew the life story of Ali.Michael Mann can do better, but he seemed more interested in crafting the individual scenes instead of focusing on a coherent narrative.
Michael Mann, a director that is capable of making such good movies like Heat, The Insider, and Manhunter fell flat this time around.
I'm sure this movie left a lot out about Ali's life, but I don't think it left him looking like a champ.
It's the perfect opening sequence for this film.That's because that's exactly how this movie feels : long, drawn-out, and boring.How could someone make a film about Muhammad Ali's life & manage to make the film boring ?!?!?
I looked at my watch to see that nearly 2 HOURS had passed in the film !Even MORE bad pacing : Ali gets his fight with Frazier.
Still, while the fight itself looked boring, I will admit that Michael Mann did a brilliant job with showing the now-famous Foreman knockout punches by Ali. The angles he uses are different with each punch, and it is a very good perspective.Other aspects of this film bothered me.
Smith does indeed do everything that one can hope from someone who is portraying Ali. However, when you get right down to it, I think there are simply some people who it is more exciting to watch in a documentary or biography, rather than a Hollywood film production.So with that in mind, watch "When We Were Kings" for anything you would want to know about "The Rumble in the Jungle" or HBO's documentary on Ali-Frazier I.
I will say this though Will Smith was as good as any actor could be playing Muhammed Ali, he is excellent, unfortunately he's in the wrong film.
He's no doubt a fascinating character study, but the movie just seemed to miss the boat a bit.The cast is solid with Will Smith as Ali, putting in a decent performance, Jamie Foxx and Jon Voight.
Nobody is bad but I did think that the cast would have benefited from having fewer famous faces despite the fact that Silver, Wright, Williamson, Smith, Gaye, Michele, Morton, McGill and others were all fine (not sure about Van Peebles as Malcolm X or Williamson's Don King though).Overall this is a good film but it is at its best when it is just recreating the magic of Ali and his skills as a fighter and entertainer.
Sadly, this film, with bold aim and a careless hand largely missed the mark.Will Smith displays his best and most studied acting as Muhammad Ali himself, along side other great actors who play titan roles.
Unfortunately, much of what was shown of this decade focused less on boxing and more on personal affairs, as it spent much time on Ali being banned from the sport and scorned by the establishment for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War. And while (in real life) Ali's court case went on for years during his ban from the sport, the film didn't go the route of The People Versus Larry Flint, focusing on intellectual ventures surrounding the legal fight.Besides the great acting, the only high spike in Ali is the scene surrounding the Rumble in the Jungle fight that took place between Ali and George Foreman, in Zaire in 1975.
This problem is that though Smith is excellent in the role, thoroughly deserving his Oscar nomination, there's nobody on Earth who can ever be as interesting as the real Ali.For instance, the way in which the Rumble in the Jungle affair is recreated is highly impressive but watch "When We Were Kings" and you realise that the reality was so much better.Overall then a good film hampered by the fact that it deals with living-legend subject matter..
The fight scenes are so well acted Smith carries himself and boxes just like the champ, he looks like Ali in the ring.
In fact, at times it detracted from the drama when it was supposed to help support it.There are great performances by Will Smith as Ali, Jamie Foxx, and Jon Voight as Howard Cosell that make this movie worth seeing..
Will Smith steals every scene here as the title character, and you really should be watching this film for two reasons: Will Smith's interpretation of the legend, and Michael Mann's solid-as-always direction.The film's only drawbacks are its meandering pace at times, and how it often shows Ali's marriages like they were one-night stands.
I just purchased my copy of this film and watched it for the first time last night.This is a finely made film.I am a fan of just about everybody associated in the making of it.Will Smith,who I might add, actually deserved the recognition he received from the Academy as a nominee this year for best actor for his outstanding delivery of Muhammad Ali.Jon Voight,as usual,gives another unforgettable performance.I also found Mario Van Pebbles as Malcom X and Mykelti Williamson as Don King,both quite convincing.I almost didn't recognize Jada Pinkett Smith for a while,but she was quite good,having never seen her in such a mature role as this one.Others have spoken about how NOT this movie is about boxing,yet a look at the man Muhammad Ali,himself.His beliefs,his romantic interests,love for his religion,his comical interviews for the broadcast media.We are even shown his reflections on humanity and human injustices where he' s given an early lesson as a young boy riding in the 'colored' section in the rear of a bus.We see in this picture a Muhammad Ali who wants and needs to be a voice,a leader for the people,for black people.He proves this in his refusal of being inducted into military service,his choice not to fight in a war in Vietnam against a people he feels are of no threat to him,but rather a race of people who are suffering just like the oppressed in America.I am a Vietnam vet and I surely can understand his reasoning here,even though I went on to fight in that war.I enjoyed watching this movie and plan on watching it many more times.One thing that rather disturbed me about the film was the sound.I don't know if there are others here who have watched it at home and heard it through a surround sound system,but I found it difficult hearing dialogue at times.I kept adjusting my speakers but couldn't seem to find the right speaker level combo.At times the soundtrack was louder than the actors speaking.I wonder if anyonelse had this problem?All in all this again is a fine film..
this films is well made, it looks slick, will smith does well as ali and the boxing scenes are well done BUTthats it, the movie has nothing too say that we didnt already now about ali.
I love a good biography film and Ali is at times masterful in many ways and portrays all the parts of Muhammed Ali, not just the dazzling boxing life he led which is often used above his deep inner anguish at the prejudice in America.Will Smith is the only person in my opinion who could've played Muhammed, you can tell that he really wanted to play the part just by looking at his actions throughout the movie; it's deeply obvious that he's studied Muhammed in depth and this worked wonders on screen.
With an excellent performance from Will Smith, an impeccable director and enough time lapsed since the end of Ali's career to be objective, this should have been a great movie.But it's not.
As a result, large amounts of Ali's life and some of his key fights are never covered and after the film I felt I knew about as much about the man as before.I can't go as far as some people though and say `don't watch this film' as it is still a well made and thoughtful picture and worth seeing for Smith's take on Ali. Sadly, this could have been a great biopic though and isn't.
The best thing about the movie was the performance by Will Smith as Ali, and Jon Voight did a wonderful job of playing Howard Cosell.