Ali
Really disappointed. And I mean really. It should have been a great film given the subject. It could have been a good film but missed even that, for me anyway. Plus side, Will Smith as Ali is extremely good. He got so much of Ali just about spot-on, as far as I could tell. The voice, some of the swagger. He's always going to be Will Smith, popular in so many other films as a completely different character, so you cut him slack for that. But for me he missed that mischievous, sparkling glint in the eye, the slightly smug grin, that Ali had. Ali was a quick thinker, an intelligent man and maybe a manipulator. He knew what he was doing and when to do it. That glint and smile said that to me, and Smith couldn't get that.
The film showed Ali's political and religious side. His involvement with Malcolm X and Islam. It didn't portray Ali as only a boxer so it's to be commended for that. And for that, it had some added interest for me. But sadly where it failed, imho, was it's overuse of sound track. I just don't think of Ali and soul music together. At times, I felt as if I was being emotionally manipulated by the music, music that only really served to set the era rather than be relevant to the man. It was almost cliché too, love scenes to soul music. That's not Ali, that's almost lazy. It's why I threw the towel in.
'When We Were Kings' is a far far better movie.
