Susan Granger’s review of “ALI” (Columbia Pictures)
Undoubtedly, Muhammad Ali was the most amazing boxer and flamboyant ring showman of the ’60s and ’70s, but director Michael Mann’s ambitious cinematic biography falls far from greatness. And it’s not the fault of the actors: bulked up Will Smith, whose stunning portrayal embodies not only the athlete’s physical agility but also his boastful, boisterous bravura; Jon Voight, barely recognizable as Howard Cosell, Ali’s on-air verbal sparring partner; Jamie Foxx, as Ali’s trainer Drew “Bundini” Brown; and Mario Van Peebles as Malcolm X. The story spans ten tumultuous years – from 1964, when 22 year-old Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship, to 1974, when Muhammad Ali fought George Foreman in Zaire, the infamous Rumble in the Jungle. In-between, the episodic plot explores Ali’s spiritual and political allegiance to the quixotic leaders of the Nation of Islam, his refusal to accept induction into the U.S. Army to fight in Vietnam (“I ain’t got no quarrel with no Vietcong.”) and his penchant for philandering. Jada Pinkett scores as Ali’s flashy wife #1, with Nona Gaye as devout wife #2 and Michael Michele as sleek wife #3. (Ali is currently married to wife #5 and has nine children.) In striving to be visually relevant, comprehensive and objective, Mann (“The Insider”) and co-writers Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson and Eric Roth eviscerate Ali’s complexity and vitality – except in the ring and the bedroom. In addition, the pacing is disconcertingly uneven and confusing. I suspect, despite its exhausting 2 1/2 hour length, much of the connective tissue must have been left on the cutting-room floor. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Ali” is a static, shadowy, superficial 6. Leon Gast’s documentary “When We Were Kings” is far better.
