Ali

I had nothing to do one night so I figured that I had better see this film. It was very personal for its director & for Will Smith. Because of his role as Muhammad Ali, Will received his first Oscar nomination. Upon viewing the film, the portrayal of the story was done so in a way I was not expecting. Due to the cinematography and editing, the film took on the feel of a documentary. All the scenes felt like archival footage of Ali’s career between 1964 and 1974. The acting is the best quality of the film but I am very narrative driven when it comes to filmmaking. Because of the script, the movie did not appeal to me very much.

The film appears to be very historically accurate. We see depicted the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. I am impressed by their portrayal because you don’t really see either of those events coming. The funny thing was that in the case of the MLK assassination scene, the hotel that Chauncey was at reminded me of the Lorraine Motel even before the shot rang out while he was on the phone with Ali. The film includes a few POV shots of the boxers in the ring, which also impressed me. I love the portrayal of the rematch with Lipton. One moment in the film that I was watching for was the famous “phantom punch”. I have seen the photo of the moment many times but not any video of the punch. Now, after seeing the movie, the photo makes a lot more sense. I found it kind of weird when Ali takes a ride with Frasier. It does illustrate how Frasier knows that he is not the real champ. Boxing is business as well as a sport. Frasier needs and wants to fight Ali as much as Ali wants it too. The movie does a good job editing-wise when a big plot point happens like when Frasier beings to lose against Foreman. The editing becomes faster paced and such was also the case in the two assassination portrayals. I like the first shot of Ali running in Zaire because from the back, Will really does look like Ali. His hair is what achieves this. Will really shines when he imitates Foreman as a mummy. It is humorous. Another good thing about the movie is the relationship between Ali and Howard Cosell. They seem to be at each other’s throats but in truth, they feed of each other’s personalities. Both are cocky and like to showoff. They look better in the public eye as they exchange words or better yet “blows”. Because of their different backgrounds, their types of arrogance differ. Because of that, we get an interesting relationship that entertains.

As I mentioned, the movie feels a lot like a documentary. Director Michael Mann, who is an Oscar nominee, applied some documentary qualities to the movie. He stripped away any narrator or “talking heads” and then as opposed to archival footage, he uses reenacted scenes with his actors with “Ali” being the end result. Don’t get me wrong. I like documentaries. But because they have narrators and other qualities, there is a narrative that allows us insight into what we are seeing on the screen. As opposed to a regular Hollywood film, “Ali” requires us to be a lot more readerly while watching it. In other words, we have to interpret for ourselves what we are watching. It took awhile for the movie to get good after starting it. The beginning of the film does little in the way of introductions. We are thrust into the middle of a story. The relationships that Ali has don’t feel real enough because there is a lack of narrative. “Ray” on the other hand was packed full of scenes that gave narration and gave us insight to the story. We also saw origins in that movie and the relationships were well developed. “Ali” had a lack of relationship and story development because of the documentary approach.

The acting was very good. It must have been very scary for Hollywood superstar Will Smith to play the Champ. Apparently, he worked very hard and it shows. By the climax, we kind of forget what the real Muhammad Ali looks like. Both he and Jon Voight deserved their Oscar nominations for their roles in this film. For the first few scenes, I didn’t recognize Voight. He used his costume very well and his acting did all the rest to create a character that was not connected to Voight’s persona. It is clear why he is already an Oscar winner. He tried to do the same thing on “Pearl Harbor” but it did not work as well. It is cool to see Will and Voight acting together after already working together on “Enemy of the State”. Jokingly speaking, they appear to be on good terms now. “Ali” is full of actors I like but they tend to be unrecognizable. It was good to see Mykelti Williamson from “Forrest Gump” and Joe Morton from “Speed”. Leon from "Cool Runnings" was in this show and I have met him. It was nice to see Jada Pinkett Smith acting alongside her husband. I know her best from her subsequent role on the Matrix sequels. Jamie Foxx did well and it was kind of funny to see LaVar Burton from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” playing MLK.

Sometimes, I felt like I was watching some compiled footage of events in the life of Muhammad Ali as opposed to a scripted film. The film has both good and not-so-good qualities. I would have liked the movie a lot better if the film took on the attributes of a usual linear narrative film. The acting was wonderful and the film had some artistic, cinematic moments that are very noteworthy. The problem I have with “Ali” is that it cannot be passively viewed.

3 Stars