Paul Ardaji, A. Kitman Ho, James Lassiter, Michael Mann and Jon Peters
Screenplay:
Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson, Eric Roth and Michael Mann
Music:
Pieter Bourke
Cast:
Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali: Will Smith
Howard Cosell: Jon Voight
Drew 'Bundini' Brown: Jamie Foxx
Sonji: Jada Pinkett Smith
Muhammad Ali
is undoubtedly one of the greatest sportsmen the world has
ever known. He wasn't just a world-class athlete, either - he was also a
quick-witted, engaging showman off-screen who led a colourful and
interesting career. As such, his life story has been recounted numerous
times in the past to varying degrees of success. The latest in a
not-so-illustrious series of Ali biopics is this - Michael Mann's "Ali",
starring Will Smith.
Mann is a prolific director who recently won critical acclaim with
The Insider
and its conspiratorial tobacco industry storyline, which was
based on a true story. Blessed with great technical skill and a
serious-minded no-nonsense attitude in all his films, Mann was an
excellent choice to direct another real-life story - that of Cassius
Clay, the boxer who would come to dominate the boxing world as Muhammad
Ali.
Sadly, "Ali" finds Mann faltering in several key areas. That's not to
say this is a truly abysmal movie - it's still the best of the Ali
biopics - but it's still a huge disappointment given the talent
behind-the-scenes, the rich story possibilities and a truly excellent
Will Smith firing on all cylinders.
The film is neatly directed, with great production values to ground the
production in its 60s-70s time period, but the fight choreography
lacks drama and bite, and there aren't that many impressive moments
along the way to stick in the mind. Everything looks nice enough, but
it's a lukewarm retelling of the Ali legend.
Will Smith, at first a strange choice, completely embodied the role.
There has never been anyone before Smith who has so perfectly mimicked
Ali's mannerisms and clipped voice. True, Smith's pitch-perfect moments
are all those where existing footage exists to be copied (TV interviews,
and the like) but even the scenes 'behind closed doors' have a
believable air to them. Smith is by far the best thing in the movie, and
the one component that elevates the film above its predecessors -
despite its own flaws.
What desperately drags the film down is the lack of visual pizzazz in
the fight scenes. The first bout comes startlingly early in the film and
is moderately engaging. As things progress you expect each fight to
increase in efficiency and power, but by the time the infamous 'Rumble
In The Jungle' bout with George Forman arrives... it's possibly the
worst bout of them all, with Ali seemingly stuck on the ropes in every
round and the choreography as samey as usual.
Now, I know they can't change history. If Ali was stuck on the ropes for
that bout, they can't change the past (take note
U-571)...
but the reason Ali had difficulty in that round was because of his "old age"
compared to the youthful Forman.
This age difference is never clear in "Ali", as the sense of time
throughout the movie is very badly handled. Newcomers to the Ali story
will no doubt assess this entire film to be taking place over the course
of a few years... when in fact over a decade has supposedly passed!
Smith does not age visibly, and there are no time captions throughout
the film to help you keep track of elapsed months and years. The
narrative just becomes one long stream of events tacked onto each other.
This is nicely exemplified by the appearances of the women in Ali's
life. The film makes it appear that Ali beds or married every single
woman he meets - when in fact the truth is obviously far more realistic.
The supporting cast are fine, but only Jamie Foxx and Jon Voight stand
out from a mixed crowd. Voight's role is minor, and difficult to fathom
why it was deemed deserving of an Oscar nomination, to be truthful, but
it's still a welcome facet to the film. Ali may be The Greatest, but it
would have been nice to have more breaks away from him occasionally
because secondary characters wind up looking like props for Smith to
play off.
All the important bases of Ali's life are covered - from his conversion
to the Islamic religion, to his refusal to fight in Vietnam. Such
potential hotbeds of drama and biting satire at the racist underbelly of
60s America are brushed under the carpet too quickly. Nothing engages
the emotions - and this is easily the best sporting biography they could
be translating to the big-screen!
Overall, "Ali" is a failure in most things. The events presented here
are relatively recent, so a re-enactment of them is always difficult.
The documentary "We Were Kings" covers all the bases "Ali" does, but
with real footage starring the real Muhammad Ali. You can't compete with
that. The film also isn't the true biopic many will be expecting, as it
skips over Ali's childhood entirely (save a few short flashbacks), and
ends after The Rumble In The Jungle - not daring to touch on Ali's
knockout in 1980 or his ongoing battle with Parkinson's Disease.
The filmmakers should have lovingly over-dramatized the fight sequences
and roused the emotions more with the magic of film (a bombastic music
score, bone crushing sound-effects?). But no. "Ali" is a very
workmanlike adaptation, lacking true movie magic. It's a shame Will
Smith's efforts to own the role was, in the end, cruelly wasted by a
formulaic script and misfiring director. Not a total disaster, but
neither a true testament to the amazing story of Ali's life.
"Ali" arrives in sturdy Amaray case, but sadly with just the one disk.
For a film that you'd assume would arrive with a lot of
bells-and-whistles, it disappoints more than the film itself. The menu
screens are boring still images, although easy to navigate through. So
much could have been made of this DVD in all departments, but no effort
has been made.
The picture is in 2.35:1 widescreen anamorphic ratio, and while the
picture isn't bad, it's not particularly memorable. It's often drenched
in darkness and gloom, never really having much chance to shine.
However, the way this film was shot was never going to really mean a
detail rich DVD transfer.
The audio is occasionally very good, but more often than not you'll
forget this is meant to be a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. There aren't many
scenes that are actually able to pack a punch with rear speakers,
although the crowd chants during the boxing matches can be fairly good.
Fundamentally, the film just doesn't have many of the type of scenes
sonic delight demands.
The Extra Features are really where this DVD falls down. There are none
- beyond a Theatrical Trailer (itself buried beneath trailers for "Men
In Black II" and "Spiderman"!). For a film based on Muhammad Ali, you'd
quite rightly be expecting much more. Documentaries on the real man
himself, commentary by Mann and Smith, a Making Of featurette, anything!
But you're royally short-changed with this DVD. I'd be more frustrated
if that 'Spiderman' trailer wasn't so damned good!
So there it is. In the categories that really matter, the DVD is
competent enough. But the hidden depths DVD should be giving viewers is
absent. This fact, coupled with a mediocre film, means I can't really
recommend this film for people who aren't big Will Smith fans or love
Muhammad Ali. Rent "We Were Kings" for a fraction of the price and twice
the enjoyment.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
