Rent Ali (2001)

Interesting topic, boring movie. - Ali review by CP Customer

Without doubt Muhammad Ali is one of the icons of the 20th century. Not only was he arguably the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time but also one of the key figures in America's civil rights movement, add to mix Ali's colourful private life and it's the basis for an amazing story. The trouble is that the only amazing thing about 'Ali - the movie' is how director Michael Mann managed to screw it up so badly. Ali was a remarkable man, who lived a remarkable life in remarkable times, and this film could have been a great opportunity to see the real Ali, and a look at his life behind closed doors, instead Mann chooses to ignore most of the interesting stuff an instead shoot endless rounds of boxing matches that most people have seen before and know the outcome of. And for a time in history that encompassed so many key moments the film plods along at a painfully slow pace. Also some of the blame has to lie with Will Smith, firstly Ali was a huge brute of a man and although Smith looks like he had done some serious time in the gym and bulked up for the part, he still looks like a tall skinny guy with toned muscles, secondly as an actor Smith just isn't up to the job, he miserably fails to generate the same screen presence as the man he's trying to represent, and what you get is Will Smith doing a passing impression of Ali. All in all, 'Ali' is a painfully boring film that wanders all over the place, rarely holds you attention and doesn't come close to fitting biopic of a great man.