 |
| Will Smith in Ali |
Cast: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Jeffrey Wright, Mykelti Williamson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Nona Gaye, Michael Michele, Joe Morton, Paul Rodriguez, Barry Shabaka Henley, Giancarlo Esposito, Lawrence Mason, LeVar Burton, Albert Hall. Screenplay: Gregory Allen Howard, Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson, Eric Roth, Michael Mann. Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki. Production design: John Myhre. Film editing: William Goldenberg, Lynzee Klingman, Stephen E. Rivkin, Music: Pieter Bourke, Lisa Gerrard.
What's the point of a biopic when the subject is as vivid, widely known, and frequently profiled as Muhammad Ali, especially when he was still alive when the movie about him was made? Michael Mann's Ali certainly doesn't answer that question. It might have explored his very early years, since the film hints at tension between Ali (Will Smith) and his father (Giancarlo Esposito) and since those years were the crucible in which the Civil Rights movement, in which Ali took a central role, was being formed. There are glimpses of this -- Ali's recollection of the lynching of Emmett Till, which took place when he was 13, only a year younger than Till. But the film begins in 1964, when Ali was 22. There's a lot of telling rather than showing when it comes to Ali's experiences outside of the boxing ring. This is not to say that there's no substance to Ali, but rather that much of what's in the film is already familiar to us. The film also shies away from confronting the issue of corruption in the boxing world, just hinting at the shady history of figures like promoter Don King (Mykelti Williamson). Still, it's a very watchable if somewhat overlong movie, with Smith evoking a good deal of Ali's charisma and backed up by a solid, immensely talented supporting cast. It flopped at the box office, but earned Oscar nominations for Smith and Jon Voight, who deftly plays broadcaster Howard Cosell, just hinting at Cosell's oft-caricatured mannerisms.
