Rating: Summary: How could Muhammed Ali ever be tedious? Review: I never thought it possible, but the unfortunate length (157 minutes) and the pacing of Michael Mann's film bogs down the story of a sports icon who may never be matched in the sheer amount of charisma he possessed. I'm a big fan of Michael Mann's - from the Miami Vice days to Last of the Mohicans to The Insider. His visual and sound vision were clearly present in this film, and his script and the caliber of his stars clearly produced some fine individual moments and some excellent performances. But, in trying to cover too much ground, Mann never clearly establishes a compelling single story line, and doesn't spend enough time revealing the connection (pro and con) between Ali and the American public. Ali always kept you guessing. Was it real, or was it Ali performing for the cameras?As much as I enjoyed the boxing scenes, they probably did the most to drag the movie out too long....and I would have preferred more Liston and Frazier, and done Foreman only anecdotally. The same with his marriages....more anecdotally, since none of the relationships was really allowed to evolve on film (although it would have been a shame to miss Nona Gay, as wife Belinda; she was superb). Individual performances were striking, with Jon Voight in a career caricature as Howard Cosell, a tremendous performance by Jamie Foxx as Bundini, and brief but memorable cameos by Ron Silver and Giancarlo Esposito. And Will Smith? This was a really fine performance in a role that would have scared many actors. He truly studied his role and exacted everything he was capable of in the film. Was it worth an Academy Award nomination - I think not, but I now believe he's capable of making a real run for it in a future role. Pound for pound, I preferred "The Hurricane".
Rating: Summary: Poor editing destroy it Review: This films failure is at large due to poor editing. Then opening sequence is played out over about 10-minutes using the same song played live, the opening boxing match that follows is slow, boring and long (where is the editing??) I felt like the film was wasting my time and I had almost already gone to sleep. I let it play out about fifteen minutes and then noticed the full running time of the movie (where is the editing). Didn't finish it so my two star rating is only for the first thirty minutes or so of the film. I wouldn't bother.
Rating: Summary: Too slow Review: I was fairly entertained during parts of the movie, but overall it moves quite slowly and I found myself checking how many minutes had passed (in order to calculate how many there were left!) I agree with those who wrote that it is a very difficult task to try to create a biopic about a man with so many different sides, which separates him a bit from other African-American leaders of his time (Malcolm X, MLK). There's not just his boxing, but also his religious affiliations, his issues with the US government, his womanizing, his relationship with the press (Howard Cosell), etc etc. Will Smith does a pretty good job, but he didn't have much to work with. For learning about Ali, I would recommend "When We Were Kings." Unless you're 14 and want to get jiggy wid' Will Smith. A lot of the movie could have been cut.
Rating: Summary: Not the best but good enough Review: The movie Ali was not the best but it was good enough. The sound effects were good, the vision was good, and about everything else was good. But I wouldn't spend [the money] buying this movie.
Rating: Summary: Dont waste your time Review: I watched this on PPV last nite and spent much of the movie with the volume off. Too much bad music, no character development, Wil was wasted and the movie skipped the only thing that makes Ali an interesting person: his battle with Parkinson's and his advocacy for research. I dont even recommend renting it - wait till it's free on TV if you have some time to waste.
Rating: Summary: Doesn't Deserve a Movie Review: In short and I know I'm not going to make many friends out there for this review but Muhammad Ali doesn't deserve a movie about his Draft dodging racist life. He was just an egotistical nightmare of what athletes should not be like, if you want a boxing story make one about George Forman or Rocky Marciano (the undefeated champion 49-0). In short Will Smith did alright but the basis of this movie and story are morally degrading.
Rating: Summary: I'd be embarrassed to have my name on something like this Review: I feel sorry for Muhammed Ali. It must be tough being a charismatic, interesting person, and having your life displayed in such a terrible fashion as this movie presents. I get the feeling most critics really wanted to like this movie going in, and were afraid to talk about how bad it really was. It opens with an incredibly boring ten minute musical, and progresses to get even worse. If you can stomach more than 30 minutes of this travesty, you're more of a masochist than I.
Rating: Summary: don't bother Review: Will Smith did well. His portrayal of Ali is all this film had to lean on, the storyline was weak and drawn. I'd suggest renting it once, not buying it.
Rating: Summary: Rich Little would have done just as good! Review: One of the most charismatic people of the last 30 years finally gets a movie about his life; what a shame "The Fresh Prince" had to portray this hero. The movie falls short to all expectations and for some reason Smith gets acclaim. Ali's life was something else. His life outside the ring rivaled his battles in the ring. The premise of the movie looks good on paper, but many aspects were left out. His encounters with Joe Frazier in and out the ring was for some reason excluded from the movie. Ali's rival WAS Joe Frazier. Will Smith was decent in his imitation of Ali. He had the voice down (so does Billy Crystal), but all that weight gaining wasn't enough. His only love scene was with his real-life wife, this is not groundbreaking acting! Smith was good in the boxing scenes, which were better than any boxing-related movie to date. All in all, very disappointing. Maybe there will be a sequel, if there's one for Men in Black, I can easily see one for this flick.
Rating: Summary: Dissappointing to say the least Review: Although the preformances of Will Smith and the rest of the cast are nothing less then first rate, the very long story is choppy and hard to follow. When viewing the film it was assumed by the film makers that everyone watching already knew all the facts and event's in Ali's life thus the film would jump from one month to one much later, and even years later skipping over explanation for signifigant events. Anyone who know's Ali's life story already might find this much more appealing, however with out the background knowledge the film becomes hard to follow and rather confusing. With out this knowledge it becomes hard to even like this film at all. Even with actual effort put behind trying to like it.
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