#70: Ali (2001)

Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and Jon Voight
Academy Awards: Nominated twice. Will Smith for Best Actor and Jon Voight for Best Supporting Actor.
Plot: “A biography of sports legend, Muhammad Ali, from his early days to his days in the ring.”
Stock: Down
Previous Ranking: #36

“Man, without me, you’d just be a mouth and a microphone.” – Ali
“And without me, you’d just be a mouth.” – Howard Cosell

For as long as I’ve known my good friend Matt Barnes I’ve been begging him to go and see Ali. He loves Will Smith and loves Jamie Foxx but has never seen Ali which stars them both. Still not sure what he’s waiting for. He’s missing an extremely powerful movie.

First off you have the acting, which is quite good for such a challenging film. Everyone knows Muhammad Ali and I can’t imagine the pressure Will Smith was under to master Ali’s speech. Despite that pressure, Smith shines as Ali. He did an excellent job playing “the greatest of all-time.” Throw in an outstanding job by Jon Voight portraying the late Howard Cosell and you have two memorable performances.

Second, you have the actual story. Ali was much more than just an athlete, and this movie sheds some light on his back-ground, his religion, and his family. He certainly did not lead a perfect life, and his trials and tribulations are well documented in this movie. I learned a lot about Ali through this film.

The boxing in this flick is actually fairly good, which adds substance to this already great movie. It looks and feels like a real boxing match, something The Fighter struggled with.

Lastly, this isn’t just a movie about glorifying Ali. It’s about his struggle, the cast of characters surrounding him, and human psychology. It has so much going for it that it continues to boggle my mind that Barnes won’t see it.

UPDATE

Despite my constant pestering, Barnes has STILL not seen this film. He owns the DVD and has assured me it’s sitting right next to his TV. Why hasn’t he watched it yet? Your guess is as good as mine.

Two things will always hold throughout the test of time in Ali. Jon Voight and Will Smith. If you hate everything else about this film, you cannot question how magnificent they were. That, will never change.

Fun Fact: Charles Shufford, a real-life 235 pound heavyweight boxer with a 17-2 record who plays George Foreman, was given license to make his punches as real as possible, short of incapacitating the film’s star.

Hint for #69: True story that ended in the USA congratulating Canada, not blaming them for once.

Peace Be The Journey