Artist Ali

Dramatizing the eventful decade between two upsets that won Muhammad Ali heavyweight titles—his first encounter with Sonny Liston in 1964 and the Rumble In The Jungle with George Foreman in 1974—Michael Mann’s exceptional biopic Ali employs an episodic structure that focuses on key phases of his development, showing him as a brash young fighter, a spokesman for Black Power, a legal martyr for his refusal to be drafted for Vietnam, and an international icon. Buoyed by Will Smith’s fine lead performance, the film never takes the easy way out, eschewing dramatic speeches, stopping well short of hagiography, and telling Ali's story as often through sideways glances as through grand dramatic gestures.

Updated 11/04/2009