Ali Details

There's no faulting Will Smith's remarkable impersonation of Muhammad Ali — from his punchy vocal mannerisms to his impressive physical appearance — and his performance here earned him his first Oscar nomination. Nor can you underestimate the epic scale and historical authenticity of director Michael Mann's biopic. It begins with the then Cassius Clay winning the heavyweight title in 1964, then follows his conversion to Islam, his relationship with Malcolm X, his refusal to fight in Vietnam, and concludes with his monumental 1974 comeback against George Foreman — the legendary “Rumble in the Jungle”. Where it falls down is in the lack of fresh insight into the enigmatic fighter; familiar events are lavishly re-created (Jon Voight's uncanny transformation into renowned American sportscaster Howard Cosell is one of the highlights) but are not re-examined or explored in any depth. While Mann's bruising approach to the heavyweight contests demand attention, elsewhere the sluggish pace and lightweight psychological profiling lessen the overall impact of a very lengthy movie. The result is a rather ordinary film about an extraordinary man.

A dynamic performance from Will Smith holds together a somewhat diffuse account of the ten most significant years in Ali's boxing career, but there's too much pussy-footing around his life outside the ring.