Ali

Rating:
Summary: Ali Is A Worth While Flick
Review: Ali is a movie you would want to see only once . It is a great movie but it seems very long . I reccomed you wait for video
for Ali . Ali stars Will Smith , Jamie Foxx , Ron Silver , Jon Voight , Mykelti Williamson , Jeffery Wright , Mario Van Peebles
and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTLY DEVISTATING
Review: Will Smith delivers the best performance of his career. This is without a doubt a true Knock-Out. Many people say that the film could have been better. This may be true, but only for the simple reason that the writers left out other key moments in Ali's life. Moments such as the the thriller in manila and other key fights. This would have made the movie longer, personaly I wouldnt have mind it at all if it were longer.I wish that it was... This movie was every bit of three hours long, and and you wouldnt notice because you would love every minute of it.

Rating:
Summary: Wait for the DVD/Video
Review: Actually, I'd give it 1.5 stars. I have been an Ali fan my entire life. I can remember sitting at the television, mesmerized by Ali's charisma, and superb boxing as a child with my father. I have read all I can about Ali, and seen every video available. This movie did not do his life justice. Ali was full of energy and charisma. This movie was not. It was long and drawn out, full of "artsy" camera shots and cinematography with little of the energy that Ali radiated through out his career. In a movie of this length, they could have covered more of his life, instead they let the "creative talents" of the director and producers take center stage, while Ali himself would have never let anyone take center stage over himself. If you're a diehard Ali fan, (whatever you do, don't take your wife, if you go to the theatre, she'll hate it), you'll want to get the video/ dvd, so you can pause it and fast forward.

Rating:
Summary: The Season's Best Movie
Review: Being female, and not a boxing fan, this is the last type of movie I would have expected to go and see-- much less like, especially with all the other movies opening at this time. However, I truly believed that Will Smith would have given a great performance. i can say in all honesty that he far surpassed my expectations. This is probably the best acting vehicle he has been in, and he carried the role off to perfection. The boxing scenes were so realistic, I felt that I was ringside. Another surprise was Jon Voight as Howard Cosell! I don't believe anyone could have played him more believably and realistically as Voight. For me, the movie was also an education, as it presented a culture of which I have no knowledge.

This move draws one in with all senses, and each sense is completely satisfied.

I remember as a teen when Ali refused the draft. At that time I felt he had let down the nation with his unpatriotic action and words. After seeing this movie, I was compelled by his strength of belief, and walked away with nothing but admiration for him.

The movie ends with the "Rumble in the Jungle". I do wish that it had told more of his later life, but realize that there was no time for it. Perhaps a sequel.......

Rating:
Summary: ALI falls to Poor Editing on a TKO
Review: ALI is the tribute to the now almost-recluse Muhammad, starring Will Smith in his undeniably best screen performance ever. The film spans the period from 1964, when Ali took the heavyweight boxing crown from Sonny Liston, to 1974 when he won it back from George Foreman. In between, Muhammad engineers a name change (from Cassius Clay), runs through a couple of wives, contests a draft evasion conviction with the U.S. Justice Department all the way to the Supreme Court, becomes pals with Howard Cosell, has an on and off relationship with Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, and loudly proclaims himself as The Greatest to whomever will listen. All of these events are part of the public record.

Ali is arguably the greatest heavyweight boxer the United States has produced. He was loud and obnoxious, but he did (and still does) have class. Unfortunately, his great career, and the Champ himself, are shortchanged by ALI. Rather than being a seamless visual and dramatic narrative, the film is a series of snapshots disjointedly strung together with too much emphasis on some people and events, and not enough on others. This film is badly in need of some serious editing. As examples, Malcolm X and much of the Zaire pre-Rumble sojourn should have been left on the cutting room floor (or, in this age of digital editing, in the computer's Recycle Bin). Moreover, the screenwriters didn't take the time to sufficiently introduce the audience to some of the characters, and at several points I mentally asked, "Who are those people?" And, in a bigger lapse, those same screenwriters don't allow us a perception of Ali the man that goes much deeper than his surface bombast and popular charisma. I'm left knowing (and caring) more about the fictional character of Stallone's Rocky Balboa than the real-life Ali. (Honey, you haven't given my ROCKY I, II, III, and IV tapes to Goodwill, have you? I want to see them all again.)

Despite its major flaws, the film does incorporate two acting performances of note. First of all, there's Smith's. While it may not be good enough to merit this year's Academy Award for Best Male Actor, Will should justifiably be nominated at least, and this performance is his best to date. Also, Jon Voight's Howard Cosell perfectly captures the man that those of us of a certain age remember and love (or hate). In a single year, Voight has played both Cosell and FDR (in PEARL HARBOR). For an actor, I suppose the roles don't get much better than those.

Rating:
Summary: On Oscar night, the best Actor announced WILL end in "SMITH"
Review: This biopic features a bravura performance from star Will Smith. He literally becomes Ali, proving that the actor is a force of which Hollywood should reckon.

Jamie Foxx is also remarkable as "Bundini" Brown and Jon Voight is magnificent as Howard Cosell. If the Oscar board is wise, both thespians should be up for "Best Supporting" nods.

The oh-so-familiar story has its lapses but the brilliant cinematography, scoring, and direction by Michael Mann make this one of the highlights of 2001.

Rating:
Summary: Too much filler
Review: For a three hour movie, this movie had remarkably little content. Althought biographical, it only covered a few years of his life, not even his complete boxing career. There were many unnecessary scenes that had nothing to do with the rest of the movie. For example, there was about 20 minutes of Ali jogging (around two hours into the movie) in preparation for the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" fight. During these 15 -20 minutes, the only dialouge is some Africans chanting something which translated to (I think) "fear Ali." This scene has no point, and I think it was just put there because they wanted to make the movie longer. There were many other examples, but that one was the worst.

Also, the movie was poorly directed during the boxing scenes. I often found myself wondering who was punching who. The camera angles were often poor. Also, some characters just materialized without introduction. For example, (I don't want to give away too much) but Ali's second wife just comes out of nowhere. The audience is never told that he even got a divorce, let alone that he remarried. This happened a couple of times in the movie.

On the positive side, Will Smith did an excellent job, as did most of the cast. Smith captured the arrogance, and hypocritical idealogy of Ali very well. Also, that Smith was actually made to look like Muhammed Ali is a miracle of film making.

Overall, an OK movie marred by trying to be more epic than it was, and poor direction.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful and compelling. It's better than The Hurricane.
Review: (*** of 4)

It's funny how all the award nominees typically wait for the end of the year. "Ali" is fortunate to have a brilliant director and excellent performances behind it. Will Smith plays the one and only Muhammad, taking his life and transforming it brilliantly to the screen. We are taken through the stages, decisions and fights, in-and-out of the ring, that made him the Ali as we know him today.

Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Jada Pinkett Smith and Mario Van Peebles co-star. They all present their characters goldenly great. Why is there a 3 star rating of 4 rather than all four?

This film spends too much time with itself. Ali (Smith) is taking a run and we spend ten whole minutes watching his tracks. Ali's attitude has been twisted into something a little different than realistic. The world is dark and here-and-there depressing. The film is slow and is elongated into a terminating 2 hours and 40 minutes. There is too much in this film. It is drawn out beyond reach. Michael Mann obviously didn't check his editing very much, because it seems as though he didn't at all. Luckily enough, the film seems to be "fine" as it is.

This film is very dramatic, but not superb. I'll give it a Best Actor nomination, Best Supporting Actor nomination (Voight), and a Best Original Screenplay nomination, but no Best Picture because it just isn't quite there yet. But it is a good film, one that I recommend, simply because it is very much understandable and as realistic as Hollywood will get. It holds more facts in it than fiction, something that didn't exist with The Hurricane. Ali is a good film, but nothing more than that.

QUOTE: "This film raises its standards a little higher than it can come to. The performances are dominating the film, which makes the film seem as good as it is, but it is drawn out too much and becomes so overwhelmed by itself that it forgets how long the audience has been sitting there. As it is, Ali is a rocking film that shines with its colors of pride and victory. Will Smith and Michael Mann have made a standard good film. But it misses the one factor that made Rocky a powerhouse movie. This film deserves a handshake, but to gravel at its feet by saying it's the best film of the year, is a little over-doing it."

Rating:
Summary: "Ali" Movie is Definitely NOT the Greatest -- It's the Worst
Review: The movie "Ali" should have been as great as the real Ali. But it was awful. Beyond awful. This was the first movie I've seen in a decade that I wanted to walk out on. You learn next to nothing about Ali during the entire movie and are left mostly wondering why we have to watch Ali take a shower in slow motion. The whole thing is a confused, slow motion mess, more intent on being a long music video than on telling what should be a fascinating story. The movie is dull and boring -- and making it last 3 hours didn't help. Mind you, a good Ali movie could easily last 3 hours, but this one wasn't it. On the bright side, the casting was brilliant and Will Smith is amazing in this role -- he somehow transformed his slight build into a credible heavyweight boxer and is entirely believable as Muhammad Ali (these good points make it even more disappointing that the movie is lousy). Smith was so good in the role, and this movie was so awful, that someone should make a real movie about Ali, and recast Smith in the title role. After this performance, no one else could measure up to Smith as Ali. His performance deserves a much better movie and I'm serious that another director should make that movie with Smith -- it would be worth the effort. As for this movie, I wouldn't bother seeing it at the theater or on video or DVD -- it's just not worth it. One of the worst movies I've seen in a long while.

Rating:
Summary: Lonely Are The Brave
Review: After all the years and the hyperbole, the marriages, the knockouts, the championship bouts lost, won and regained... there stands at the center of Michael Mann's "Ali," the man himself, Mohammed Ali. But what we may have forgotten is that Mohammed Ali was first and foremost an honorable and brave man, though flawed and human like the rest of us.
Who among us would go up against the United States Government and the Draft Board by refusing to serve in a war in which he did not believe; thereby risking 5 years in Federal Prison, losing 3 years of his prime boxing life and subsequent lost earnings...and all out of deeply felt religious and humanitarian reasons. Ali's boxing life notwithstanding, this is ultimately the importance and the relevance of Mann's "Ali," which is not so much a boxing film in the sense that "Raging Bull" is, but a film about a Champion and the machinations, perserverance, personality, drive and more importantly the sacrifices necessary to achieve this exalted professional position.
Michael Mann has given the film an appropriate grainy, almost newsreel look which emphasizes the sweaty, muscular milieu he is trying to portray. But I think Mann's touch is most apparent in the performance of Will Smith as Mohammed Ali. I was extremely skeptical that Smith, heretofore a light comedian/rapper, could handle the emotional weight of such a role. I was wrong. Smith gives a towering,eloquent performance filled with the requisite heart and soul as well as the necessary bragadaccio necessary to pull off this portrayal of one of the most famous people of the the 20th century.
In supporting roles, Jon Voight as Howard Cosell, Jamie Fox as Drew Brown and Ron Silver as Angelo Dundee all do excellent work in roles that not only support Smith/Ali but do so with a kind of truth not often seen on the screen.
"Ali" runs into the most trouble, I think when it attempts too much: the Jada Pinkett-Smith as Sonji Roy, Ali's first wife storyline simply doesn't make sense as well as the Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles) storyline: very powerfully enacted but motivationally murky here as well.
Michael Mann and Will Smith have done a bang-up job capturing Mohammed Ali's tumultuous life on film and I will not hestitate to speculate that the Man himself cannot help but be complimented by the results.