Done shook up my sleep

** Ali (2001)

Ali plays like one long (very long), gorgeously-shot music video. Beautiful to look at, dynamic soundtrack, but never a point when you're truly engaged. Given the subject matter, it seems impossible to think that a movie about Muhammad Ali - arguably the most electrifying athlete and sports personality ever - could be boring. Yet that's the one word that pretty much sums up this biopic. When Ali (Will Smith) defeats George Foreman at the end of the film (sorry for the "spoiler") and raises his arms in triumph in front of thousands of Zairians chanting his name, the scene should have scored a 10 on the "chill-factor" scale. Yet it ends up feeling flat (flat!) and all the expectations of greatness anticipating this film ends with disappointment.

The movie chronicles ten years of Ali's professional career - from his first fight with Sonny Liston to the aforementioned "Rumble in the Jungle" with George Foreman. In between the boxing scenes are well-documented accounts from Ali's personal life: his involvement with Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, his refusal to be drafted and subsequent banishment from boxing, his friendship with Howard Cossell and his numerous affairs with women and failed marriages. There are also scenes from famous moments in history (i.e. the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.) that seemingly have no relation to Ali whatsoever other than the fact that they portray the time of social upheaval during which Ali ascended to fame. In the end, you really don't know what to make of this movie: is it supposed to be historical fiction a la Oliver Stone, an inspirational sports flick like Rocky, or an uncompromising look at a complex athlete's life (Raging Bull)? The movie tries be all three and ends up being too sprawling and scattered.

There are moments, glimpses, of sublimity but they never really take off. Although the performances are outstanding, there's no emotional attachment to any of the characters because the scenes play like dramatic reenactments from real life, rather than real life unfolding onscreen. The opening sequence shows so much promise, until you realize that the rest of the movie carries on pretty much the same way:



Great music, great shots - cut to a scene with some dramatic dialogue - cue in great music, cut to great shots. Yep, that's Ali, in only so many words.