|
 Director
: Michael Mann
Starring
: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles,
Ron Silver, Mykelti Williamson, Jada Pinkett-Smith
Picture
2.35:1 Anamorphic, DD 5.1, Dual-Layer, Keep Case
Running
Time : 157 mins
The
story:
Forget
what you think you know
Muhammad
Ali (Will Smith) from 1964 to 1974, told in three braided
threads. The boxer: from becoming champion to regaining
the championship from George Forman in the "Rumble
in the Jungle". Religion and politics: Cassius Clay
becomes Cassius X, a Black Muslim, truncates a friendship
with Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles), becomes Muhammed Ali,
refuses induction into the US military, and faces a five-year
prison sentence while his case goes to the Supreme Court.
Family: he marries twice and by 1974 that marriage is strained,
defends his white trainer (Ron Silver), has a brother in
Bundini Brown (Jamie Foxx)and is good friends with Howard
Cosell (Jon Voight). Throughout, Ali keeps his own counsel:
in the ring, at the induction center when he won't step
forward, and in friendship, love, and victory.
The
summary:
You
might be forgiven for thinking that you know most things
about one of the worlds most iconic men. Muhammed Ali was
at the pinnacle of boxing and some would say showbusiness
for over a decade and his life was a rollercoaster of ups
and downs.
First
off, Will Smith is absolutely superb as Clay/Ali. After
spending a whole year preparing for the role and purportedly
putting on three stone of muscle (courtesy of IMDB - Not
the extras, I will get to that later) he is so much like
Ali that you almost think it is a documentary at times.
He has completely perfected the accent, the manner, the
cockiness, even the walk. He IS Ali. Secondly if you are
expecting a film that glamourises his life and celebrates
his success you may be disappointed. The film pulls no punches
(if you will forgive me) and portrays Ali as a stubborn
follower of his chosen religion, who is a serial adulterer
and a master boxer. It is a warts and all look at his life
over a ten year period and captures the mood very well.
Despite
Smith's excellent performance though, the film never does
him or the great man justice. The fights are well produced
and it does cram in a lot of detail, but ultimately you
don't feel the passion and the film sometimes drags limply
between scenes. It does portray some genuinely high moments
but seems to rely too heavily on the "man of the people"
image that Ali tried to project throughout his career and
does not seem impartial enough about his dealings with Malcolm
X, the nation of Islam or his arrest over the draft. For
me the film was more of a fact finding exercise than a look
at one of my hero's, having been born slightly too late
to capture the Ali bug. What the film did was fill in many
blanks about his life and career but did not endear me to
the man or fill me with inspiration. It did change the way
that I look at Will smith as a serious actor though. Really
I think this will most probably appeal to the fans (and
there are many) who spent years worshipping the legend.
The
DVD is a very disappointing edition. The sound and picture
are of average to above average quality, but its the extra's
that really disappoint. Let me reiterate my earlier comment.
This is a film about one of the most iconic men of our generation.
A man that was perhaps more photographed, more profiled,
more controversial and more famous than anyone in recent
history. So how do they mark this ? well they don't. The
disc has no extra's at all. What could have been a fascinating
and ingenious blend of movie, historical documentaries along
with production footage and interviews has been completely
wasted. This is perhaps the first time we have given a zero
for extras and deservedly so.
|
