Ahoy there, squirts. 'Tis I, the pleasing to the eye yet repugnant to the nose crusty ol' seaman, Quint, here to share my opinions and thoughts on Michael Mann's newest drama, ALI. I've never been really big into sports, but the one sport that has always fascinated me was boxing. I don't know why. I haven't kept up with it or anything, but if I see a match as I'm flipping channels, I usually watch it.
For me, when you look up boxing in the Seaman dictionary there should be a picture of Muhammed Ali. I've always loved the show that Muhammed Ali put on whenever there was a camera in the room. The insults, the put downs, the challenges, the rhymes and easily remembered phrases... all are beautifully entertaining. I have great respect for someone who can entertain as consistently as Mr. Ali. What's great about Ali as a character is not only does he throw out those insults and self-gratifying remarks, but he can follow them shits up. The way he used both his mind and his muscle in the ring was spectacular to behold. The way he'd freak his opponent out or piss them off to such an exteme degree where they start making mistakes... The man was a God in the ring.
This review is a little hard to write. Mann's film did do justice to Muhammed Ali and is riddled with amazing performances, the best from people you wouldn't expect them from, like Will Smith and Jamie Foxx. Unfortunately, as a film, it just never finds its pacing or its focus. The first 30 minutes, while performed and shot terrifically, are just sort of there. Mann failed to hook me in at the beginning and as a result I didn't really connect with anything or anyone. Matter of fact, the film didn't become interesting for me until the whole draft dodger issue came up about half way in. Story, schmory, I can hear you say. What about the fights?!?
In Mann's attempts to keep Ali's fights as true to history as he could... well, the boxing scenes took a big hit. I respect Mann's attempts, but as an audience member I have to question if it was worth losing the momentum of the film by keeping the fights true to life. Of course I'd probably be bitching about Mann not staying true to life if he had gone that route instead, so he was pretty much fucked either way. After having seen the film, though, I have to say I would have preferred the matches to be a bit more involving and quickly paced. As they are... well, we've seen them before and since this is a boxing film and has to contend with the likes of Raging Bull and Rocky I would have liked the fights to be a bit more theatrical and heart-pumping.
Will Smith with muscle threw me for a loop, I must say. How skinny little Fresh Prince morphed into thick muscular Ali is beyond me, but I'm glad he got cast. We've seen Will Smith's chemistry on film before, but he's never really become a different person. It's always Will Smith playing that army guy blowing up aliens or Will Smith as that agent guy blowing up aliens or Will Smith playing that mysterious caddy helping Matt Damon out. For those who thought his performance in Six Degrees of Separation was a fluke... You were wrong. Smith captures Ali's charisma, his attitude and his might with startling ease. Even though the movie falters a bit, Smith's performance stays steady as a rock.
Jamie Foxx turns in a great performance as one of Ali's main core of trainers/promoters/friends. Foxx plays Bundini Brown, a balding Black Jew who is always quick with his tongue. Even though you could classify Foxx's character as the comedic relief, it would be a shame to do so. Foxx makes Brown a real human being, not just a caricature for laughs. You see him at the top of his game and you see him lying face down in the gutter. Though he falls back on some of his comedic skills, it would be unfair for Foxx not to get credit for his skill in creating a living, breathing sympathetic being.
Jon Voight... Is he in this movie? Really? Who was he? Cosell?!? The hell you say! That was not Jon Voight as Cosell! Who was it, you ask? Well... It could have... Maybe it was Fr... Howard Cosell... is he still around? Could it have been him playing himself? I guess not... Well, if you say it was Jon Voight...
I wish Ali had been as good as I was hoping it would be. I wish I didn't have to feel guilty about writing a lukewarm review, trying not to put down the great work the actors put into the film. Maybe if I hadn't see When We Were Kings or that HBO documentary on the Ali/Frazier fight and what it meant to the world, I would've like the film a lot more. I guess in the end seeing the real thing from footage taken as it was happening makes the difference in my interest as a viewer. If only Mann had been able to hook me from the beginning...
Sorry, but this is one of those films that should have been great, but fell short. I've found myself looking back trying to blame other things for the film's failure in my eyes. It must have been my fault, right? It couldn't have been Mann's fault, right? I saw Ali after Lord of the Rings, maybe my love for the Fellowship blinded me to the genius filmmaking I missed. I might have believed that if it wasn't for all my friends who attending the same screening that I did and have similar tastes to mine telling me they thought it fell short as well. So, was I blinded or did I have 20/20 vision and am just calling it like I saw it? I know this is how I feel about the movie. Will you feel different? I hope so. I hope you find what I missed in this film.
I have to get going, squirties, but I'll be back very soon with some really cool treasures culled from hundreds of fathoms below the rolling bosom of the ocean. I've got some reviews, interviews and even an awesome set report to remove from my nets and present before your eyes, mates. 'Til that day, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
