| Ali | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Michael Mann |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Gregory Allen Howard |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 159 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $107–118 million[1][2] |
| Box office | $87.7 million[1] |
Ali is a 2001 Americanbiographicalsportsdrama film co-written, produced and directed byMichael Mann. The film focuses on ten years in the life of the boxerMuhammad Ali, played byWill Smith, beginning with his capture of the heavyweight titlefrom Sonny Liston in 1964 and ending with his reclaiming the title fromGeorge Foreman inThe Rumble in the Jungle fight of 1974.
The project began in 1992 when producerPaul Ardaji visited Ali on his 50th birthday and persuaded him to allow a new authorized biographical film to be made about his life. Ali had previously starred as himself in the 1977 filmThe Greatest, which was based on hisautobiography of the same name and which covers a similar period of his life. Nearing the end of his option period, Ardaji signed a contract withSony Pictures, joining forces with producer Jon Peters as producing partner. In February 2000, it was announced that Mann had taken over as a director, following his Academy Award nomination forThe Insider. Filming began in Los Angeles on January 11, 2001, on a $105 million budget, shooting took place in New York City, Chicago, Miami, and Mozambique.
Ali was produced byColumbia Pictures, Peters Entertainment, Forward Pass andOverbrook Films and released bySony Pictures Releasing in the United States and Canada andInitial Entertainment Group internationally on December 25, 2001. The film was well received by critics but was a box office failure, grossed over $87 million against a production budget of approximately $118 million. Will Smith andJon Voight receivedAcademy Award nominations forBest Actor andBest Supporting Actor, respectively.
Before his championship debut against the heavyweight championSonny Liston,Cassius Clay Jr. taunts Liston then dominates the early rounds of the match. Halfway through, he complains of a burning feeling in his eyes (implying that Liston has tried to cheat) and says he is unable to continue. His trainer/managerAngelo Dundee gets him to keep fighting. Once Clay sees again, he dominates the fight and Liston quits before round seven, making Clay the second-youngest heavyweight champion at the time afterFloyd Patterson.
Clay spends time withMalcolm X and is invited to the home ofNation of Islam leaderElijah Muhammad, where he is given the name Muhammad Ali, much to the disapproval of his father, Cassius Sr. Ali marries Sonji Roi, an ex-Playboy Bunny, although she is notMuslim and does not abidesex segregation. Ali goes to Africa and meets up with Malcolm X, but later refuses to speak to him, honoring the wishes of Elijah. He is distraught over theassassination of Malcolm X.
Upon returning to America, Ali fights Liston asecond time and knocks him out in the first round. He and Sonji divorce after she objects to various obligations Muslim women have.[3]
Ali then refuses conscription for theVietnam War and is stripped of his boxing license, passport, and title, and sentenced to five years in prison. After marrying 17-year-oldBelinda Boyd and a three-year hiatus from boxing, his conviction is overturned inClay v. United States, and in his comeback fight, he goesagainstJerry Quarry and wins by technical knockout in three rounds. Ali attempts to regain the heavyweight championship againstJoe Frazier. In the "Fight of the Century", Frazier generally has the upper hand against Ali and wins by decision, the first loss of Ali's career. Frazier laterloses the championship toGeorge Foreman.
Foreman and Ali go toKinshasa, Zaire, for theRumble in the Jungle fight. There, Ali meetsVeronica Porché and has an affair with her. After reading rumors of his infidelity in newspapers, his wife Belinda travels to Zaire to confront him. Ali says he is unsure whether he loves Veronica, but is focused solely on his upcoming title shot.
For a good portion of the fight against Foreman, Ali leans back against the ropes (Rope-a-dope) allowing Foreman to tire himself out. He then knocks out the exhausted Foreman, regaining the Heavyweight Championship.
The project began in 1992 when producerPaul Ardaji visited Ali on his 50th birthday and persuaded him to authorize the making of the film.[4] Nearing the end of his option period, Ardaji signed a contract withSony Pictures, joining forces with producerJon Peters as producing partner. ProducerJon Peters started developing the film in 1994.[5]Gregory Allen Howard wrote the initial draft of the script, which had the working titlePower and Grace. Howard's draft focused on Ali's life from 12 to 40 years old, and his relationship with his father.[6] Howard was replaced by writers Stephen J. Rivele andChris Wilkinson, and by 1998 the biopic was set up atColumbia Pictures, with Will Smith attached to star and the possibility ofRon Howard directing.[7] During the filming ofWild Wild West, Smith presented directorBarry Sonnenfeld with the script. Columbia was hoping for filming to start towards the end of 1998,[8] but it was pushed back, and Sonnenfeld exited in November 1999. It was speculated that Columbia was hesitant to move forward with Sonnenfeld following the disappointing box office performance ofWild Wild West.[9] In February 2000, it was announced thatMichael Mann had taken over as director, following his Academy Award nomination forThe Insider. Prior to Mann's involvement,Spike Lee had been in negotiations to direct the film, feeling that only a black man could do justice to Ali's story.[10] Smith, however, preferred Mann, who turned down the opportunity to direct early versions ofThe Aviator,Shooter andSavages to commit toAli,[11] and broughtEric Roth on to co-write the script.[12] After years of being attached to the Ali biopic, Smith officially signed on in May 2000 with a $20 million salary.[13]
Filming began in Los Angeles on January 11, 2001, on a $105 million budget. Shooting also took place in New York City, Chicago, Miami and Mozambique.[14]
One of the selling points of the film is the realism of the fight scenes. Smith worked alongside boxing promoter Guy Sharpe from SharpeShooter Entertainment, and his lead fighter Ross Kent, to get the majority of his boxing tips for the film. All of the boxers in the film are former or current world heavyweight championship–caliber boxers. It was quickly decided that 'Hollywood fighting'—passing the fist (or foot) between the camera and the face to create the illusion of a hit—would not be used in favor of actual boxing. The only limitation placed upon the fighters was for Charles Shufford (who playsGeorge Foreman). He was permitted to hit Smith as hard as he could, so long as he did not actually knock the actor out.
Smith had to gain weight to look the part of Muhammad Ali.[15]
Ali opened on December 25, 2001, and grossed a total of $14.7 million in 2,446 theaters during its opening weekend. The film went on to gross a total of $87.7 million worldwide.[1]
Due to its high production and marketing costs, the film ended up losing Columbia Pictures as much as $100 million.[2] The film's failure was partly due to its competition withThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.[citation needed]
Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,Ali holds an approval rating of 69% based on 154 reviews, with an average rating of 6.30/10. The site's critics consensus: "Though perhaps no film could fully do justice to the fascinating life and personality of Muhammad Ali, Mann's direction and Smith's performance combine to pack a solid punch."[16] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[17] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[18]
Roger Ebert derided the film with two stars in his review for theChicago Sun-Times, and mentioned, "it lacks much of the flash, fire and humor of Muhammad Ali and is shot more in the tone of a eulogy than a celebration".[19] InVariety magazine, Todd McCarthy wrote, "The director's visual and aural dapplings are strikingly effective at their best, but over the long haul don't represent a satisfactory alternative to in-depth dramatic scenes; one longs, for example, for even one sequence in which Ali and Dundee discuss boxing strategy or assess an opponent", but he did have praise for the performances: "The cast is outstanding, from Smith, who carries the picture with consummate skill, and Voight, who is unrecognizable under all the makeup but nails Cosell's distinctive vocal cadences".[20]USA Today gave the film two and half stars out of four and stated that, "for many Ali fans, the movie may be good enough, but some perspective is in order. The documentariesa.k.a. Cassius Clay and the Oscar-winningWhen We Were Kings cover a lot of the same ground and are consistently more engaging".[21]
InThe New York Times, Elvis Mitchell proclaimedAli to be a "breakthrough" film for Mann, adding that it was his "first movie with feeling" and that "his overwhelming love of its subject will turn audiences into exuberant, thrilled fight crowds".[22]J. Hoberman, in his review for theVillage Voice, felt that the "first half percolates wonderfully—and the first half hour is even better than that. Mann opens with a thrilling montage that, spinning in and out of a nightclub performance bySam Cooke, contextualizes the hero in his times", and concluded that, "Ali's astonishing personality is skillfully evoked but, in the end, remains a mystery".[23]
When Ali died on June 3, 2016, Smith was chosen to be one of Ali's pallbearers for the memorial service in Louisville.
Ali was released theatrically in 2001 at a length of 157 minutes; this version was released onDVD in 2002.[31] Mann then re-edited the film, creating a new Director's Cut that ran 165 minutes and was released on DVD in 2004;[32] approximately 4 minutes of theatrical footage was removed, while 14 minutes of previously unseen footage was inserted.[33] The Director's Cut also featured an audio commentary by Mann
In 2016 Mann created a third cut, significantly re-editing the film in the wake of Ali's death. He deleted one fight and added scenes and footage focusing on the political side of Ali's life.[34] This version runs 152 minutes and was released in 2017 on Blu-Ray as the Commemorative Edition.[35]
