Boxing Clever (Ali (DVD))

Member Name: utero

Product:	Ali (DVD)
Date:	19/01/03 (108 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good Acting, Well Directed

Disadvantages: Move's too quickly, A story that can't be told in 2 //2 hours

The movie adaptation of Muhammed Ali's life went through a few years of off and on sparring in the Hollywood ring before Micheal Mann stepped up to tell the story of probably the greatest sports legend the world has ever seen. Now I'm a big fan of Mann's films such as Heat, Manhunter etc so I was looking forward to what he would do with this. After all this was a film that Barry Sonnenfeld was close to directing but sadly there wasn't room for a giant mechanical spider in the movie.

Where do you start by trying to put Ali's story on the screen in under three hours. Well the task is almost impossible so Mann concentrates on telling the bul part which starts with Ali's first heavyweight championship win and finishes with the legendary 'Rumble in the Jungle' with George Foreman. Along the way we have Ali's marriages and his flirtation with possible jail time for being a draft dodger due to his beliefs. Mann's partner is all of this is Will Smith who goes from being the Fresh Prince of Bel Air to Ali. The result could have been awful but this is the film that defines Smith as an actor rather than just a rap star and entertainer. This is one of those roles where Smith disappears and if you hadn't known that Will Smith was in the film then you probably wouldn't even notice. It's a great performance and well worth the Oscar nomination, I'd even go as far as saying it was better than the showy performance from Denzel Washington in Training Day, the actor who won the award.

Smith is joined by an able cast of supporting actors. Jon Voight disappears under make-up to plat Howard Cosell and the scenes between him and Smith are probably some of the best in the movie. Again Voight was Oscar nominated and rightly so. The likes of Jamie Foxx, Jeffrey Wright, Mario Van Peebles and Ron Silver also come along to take on the roles of pivitol people in Ali's life. The casting of the film is very good as it cas
ts known actors but lets them disappear into characters.

Mann directs the film as you'd expect. It's masterfully shot all the way through with good performances. The boxing scenes are electric and large parts of the film are dedicated to them, but this film also concentrates on the quieter moments and tells the story with a mix of history and music to get you into the period and mood.

But for all this there is the films ultimate stumbling block and it's that the makers can't really be faulted for. Ali's life is far too coloured and interesting to fit into a movie, there's just far too much to tell and not enough time and audience patience to tell it. For that reason the film always seems to movie too quickly from one thing to another and getting to know the characters along the way is the thing that suffers. You really have to have some knowledge of Ali to fully understand what's happening. For example the death of Martin Luther King is glossed over before even being touched on, perhaps it's something that didn't need to be in the movie becasue it it shown as having no real affect. I think the problem is that the focus in the movie is changed quite a bit. It's as if one moment the makers decided to concentrate on the fighting side but then dithered over whether Ali's private life was more important but then thought that Ali's life was a metaphor for the black's struggle for equality in an America where the power was held by the whites.

It's a shame because this is an entertaining movie full of good things, I was never bored in the 2 1/2 hours of the running time. However it's just a story that really can't be done justice to in such a short time. The story of Ali is better told in the many books and in the footage of real life. Perhaps this would have been better suited to a 'Band of Brother's style series. You have to respect Smith and Mann for really stepping up and
giving it a go. They've delivered something that is respectable but ultimately flawed.

Summary: