At the sneak preview for "Ali," two distinct waves of excited whispering
swept the packed house early in the film. As best as I could tell, one
came primarily from the older people in the crowd when they first heard
the champ begin one of his legendary rhymes. The second came mostly from
the younger viewers when they got their initial look at a buffed up Will
Smith as Muhammad Ali. The split between generations was confirmed in
the lobby after the screening. Exiting groups with more years under
their belts discussed the triumphs and scandals of Ali, with some
assessing how comprehensive a picture the movie painted. Meanwhile, the
kids talked about Smith, Jamie Foxx and other younger, familiar
performers. The only comment I heard about Ali from their ranks came
when a woman in her late teens tell a friend, "The only thing I knew
about him was that he was kinda obnoxious, but I guess he was really
pretty cool."
Hopefully, those who enjoy this film will check out "When We Were
Kings," Don Gast's superb 1996 documentary chronicling 1974's "Rumble In
The Jungle" between Ali and George Foreman in Zaire. In great detail, it
captures the mesmerizing, often surreal, circus atmosphere surrounding
the event while providing a revealing portrait of the man in the center
of the frenzy. As opposed to Gast's film, director Michael Mann's
154-minute biography struggles hard, but fails to provide any real
insight into the man. Instead, we get a greatest hits package – "Now
That's What I Call Ali" if you will – depicting one high profile moment
after another.
The film does present some scenes that are more personal, such as the
depiction of the friendship between Ali and sportscaster Howard Cosell
(Jon Voight, buried under make-up while doing a dandy impression of the
broadcast icon). I don't know how close Ali and Cosell were in real
life, or if they really manipulated others as shown here, but the
affectionate glances between them as they play out their little
conspiracies is a pleasure to watch. Would that the relationships
between Ali and women were portrayed as clearly. Here comes a wife (Jada
Pinkett Smith), whoops, there she goes and here comes another one (Nona
Gaye), but wait, who is that he's cheating with? Don't expect any
clarification.
While the film glosses over too much of Ali's life, both professional
and personal, it offers a variety of engaging performances. Mario Van
Peebles does a sturdy Malcolm X, Ron Silver is very good as mentor
Angelo Dundee and Jamie Foxx manages to portray the missteps of Ali
trainer Drew "Bundini" without making him look like a buffoon. As
Muhammad Ali, Will Smith gives absolutely everything he's got. His
physical transformation is remarkable and his acting equally impressive.
Listen as he captures the great man's inflections and vocal cadence.
Clearly, Smith's goal is to do right by his hero and friend, and his
devotion shows.
Underscoring the players is a strong score by Lisa Gerrard and Pieter
Bourke, mixing gospel music and African chorale melodies with more
traditional sounds.
That "Ali" fails to do more than colorfully skim the surface of its
subject's life may be less about the filmmakers and more about the man.
Some people live so large that a movie is insufficient to capture them
and I'd wager that Muhammad Ali is one of those people.
Copyright © 2001 Edward Johnson-Ott
out of 4
