There are some slight spoilers so read on with caution. What a mess ALI is. Michael Mann should be shot or at the very least have his directors card taken away from him. Ali is nothing more than a bunch of highlights thown together. There is no real beginning, middle or end to this story, if you want to call it that. I feel sorry for those of you who don't understand the real history of Ali. It's a shame because there are some top notch performances by many people, Will Smith included. There are way too many "Miami Vice-ish" music scenes thrown throughout that just drag this movie to the ground. Just wait until you see the opening. I thought I had accidently stepped into a theatre showing the Sam Cooke story. Then there is another scene of Ali jogging through the streets in Africa before the George Foreman fight...it just goes on and on and on. At the very least they should have dropped in something telling giving us a sense of what year something was happening in. Many things were left unexplained. My advice to you is to rent or buy (as I'm gonna do) When We Were Kings. You will get a much better sense of what Ali was all about. os
my mom's husband and I are thinking about seeing Ali in a couple of hours...Is the movie at least entertaining? It has a pretty long running time... I'd like to hear the opinions of others who have seen the movie.
I just saw the movie....it was pretty good, not great...a tad bit too long, but Will Smith and Jamie Foxx did an awesome job.
Just saw it tonight. Would wait til video to see it if at all. OldSchool, I know what you mean. When he is jogging through the streets of Africa it goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on.... it was like reading my last sentence 50 times in a row. The fights were pretty good but its not a very good biographical movie if thats what your expecting. It doesnt show very much of how he handles his life, its just the things that go on during that period.... Malcolm X, Dr. King deaths...... and theres one part, towards the end when he cheats on his wife (the mother of his children) with some girl, and then says , " I respects you." This magical phrase cures everything and back to dream world it goes. I give this movie a C+ at best.
That's another thing I didn't understand...what was the point of the affair in Africa? And when Ali's manager and Don King are shown shaking hands in private before the final fight? and all the sex?
I personally didn't enjoy it which may be the reason why I slept through half of it...geez it was long!
I am a huge Ali fan, and with all of the bad things I've been hearing and reading about this movie, I will now definitely wait for it to come out on video. Besides that, I have a hard time with Will Smith as Ali. There are much better actors in the world who more than likely would have done a better job.
Will Smith actually did a good job as Ali. In fact, I thought all of the performances were top notch. It's just too bad the movie as a whole just didn't come together. If I hadn't known about the history of Ali I would have been confused the whole movie. I would have liked to have seen more about his childhood. There was no mention of how he got into boxing. No mention of his Olympic gold medal. No mention of how he met Malcom X. All of a sudden Malcom X is just there. There was a documentary of the Ali/Frazier first fight on HBO last night. I had forgotten the details and didn't realize how awesome that fight was. The movie really didn't portray that. I actually bought When We Were Kings last night and would recommend that you use your money to rent that instead. OS
That's the thing about me, I don't know Ali's history. Sure I know about all the famous things but some parts of the movie confused me.
I just thought it was strange seeing a modern era reporter playing a reporter in the early 70's. I'm sure Gray was just a kid then. I thought he stood out to much. He really didn't offer much and wasn't a focal point of the movie at anytime. It just jarred me thinking "hey, that's Jim Gray" when I should have been paying more attention to the plot or whatever. No big deal. OS
Saw the movie last night. Hot DAMN its so looooooonng! Wait to see it on DVD. And if you dont watch it on Dvd you still havent missed anything. The acting was awesome, but the movie SUCKED!
I think someone like you would like this. I think the more you know about Ali the more you will like the movie. And I like long movies.
I agree with Old School's analysis. The movie was choppy & at times very confusing. One example, was when Ali was talking to his lawyer about his case going to the Supreme Court, then you hear a gun shot & the scene flashes to MLK having just been assasinated & then it immediately flashes to another scene. There was no tie in to that scene or graceful exit. I agree that they really missed it, by not showing more of Ali's youth & how he got into boxing. Another part that really got old fast, was all the extreme close ups with blurry backgrounds. A few of those would've been cool, but they did so many, that it almost seemed like a documentary. I will usually add the movie to my collection & rewatch it if I like it, but you can bet that this one will never be added to my collection.
Damn, did ANYBODY like it? The producers dropped over $100 million into production, so by the sampling of reviews hear, the word of mouth might kill this movie...
