the audience applauded

A Masterpiece!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The first thing that I am prepared to acknowledge is Will Smith's performance in this film; he was impressive and seemed to really get into the character of Ali. Although his acting was excellent in this film, I don't believe that he should have been Oscar nominated. Likewise, Foxx and several of the supporting characters were also excellent. The film was also well-shot and generally well-made and from a technical aspect it was a fairly polished product. Unfortunately, that's where the praise for this film ends....For me there was far too much time spent on dull aspects of Ali's life such as Ali's various relationships - this aspect of his life got way too much focus and it did, at times, make the film feel like an over-long combination of melodrama and soap opera. At the same time, other potentially more interesting or important areas seemed to either have been ignored or glossed over - there's very little focus on Ali's training, no real mention of his family. Considering the film is over 2 and a half hours long I expected there to be a reasonable amount of boxing and/or training, but we're probably treated to about 30 minutes of boxing (if that) and then 2 hours of melodrama and soap opera. I'm sure a lot of what I describe as 'melodrama' and 'soap opera' type events did occur in Ali's life, but these elements don't make for an entertaining film and should have been kept to a minimum.All of the above isn't helped by the fact that the screenplay felt like it was put together in a haphazard way - the writers would shift from one aspect of Ali's life to another in quick succession barely giving you chance to digest what you've just seen.Although from a technical perspective this film was generally well put together and polished I did feel that the camera work during the boxing matches was pretty poor and as a result I didn't feel quite as involved in the action as I did when I've watched other boxing films. This came as a really big disappointment when you consider how poor many other elements of the film were.Aside from the great performances, there really isn't much else going for this film. My feeling are that it was an over-long soap opera with a bit of boxing thrown in here and there. If you want to see a good boxing biopic then I would recommend Cinderella Man. Muhammad Ali may be the Greatest, but this film certainly isn't.

Ali is a brilliant movie with a very well written and well developed storyline with an outstanding cast.Will Smith does a fantastic job portraying boxing legend Muhammed Ali and was without a doubt perfect casting,I honestly didn't think a character like this would suit him,even though he is without a doubt one of my favourite actors of all time,I just thought his personality didn't seem like one that could pull off playing Muhammed Ali,but I was wrong,I should never have doubted him,he clearly studied this mans history and really became him,it is really hard to believe watching this movie that that is actually Will Smith.I was also concerned that there would be too many fight scenes and not enough story development,but that also was not a problem,there were several fight scenes,but they were put in at very necessary times and were great while they lasted.Ali is a fantastic movie tad to would recommend to all fans of Will Smith and biography films.Biography of the famous boxing champion Muhammed Ali (Will Smith) as we look at the early beginnings of his career,forward to his rising popularity.Best Performance: Will Smith Worst Performance: Mykelti Williamson

In 1964, a brash new pro boxer, fresh from his Olympic gold medal victory, explodes on to the scene, Cassius Clay. Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African Americans in sport with his proud public self confidence with his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. To his credit, he sets out to prove that with his highly agile and forceful style soon making him a formidable boxer who soon claims the heavyweight championship. His personal life is no less noteworthy with his allegiance to the Nation of Islam, his friendship with the controversial Malcolm X and his abandonment of his slave name in favor of Muhammad Ali stirring up controversy. Yet, at the top of his game, both Ali's personal and professional lives face the ultimate test with the military draft rules are changed, making him eligible for military induction during the Vietnam War. For the life of me, I've never figured out how Ali can be considered such a great human when he was a member of the Nation of Islam -- an organization that to this day hates whites and jews.He definitely was a great fighter among great fighters. During a time that will never exist again.The movie cast Will Smith well, although it's apparent n the fight scene that he's a wuss and couldn't punch himself out of a paper bag.As bio pics go, it's OK. Not great. Just OK

In the USA, Mohammed Ali is still a divisive figure, even to people who probably not even alive when his boxing career was in its decline.To others outside the USA he is universally acknowledged as a hero, someone who transcended his sport to become a universally popular hero.Michael Mann takes up the challenge to try to tweak out the various facets of Ali and show someone who is not an easy subject to capture but his boxing of course makes the narrative easier.The film ends with the Rumble in the Jungle when he beat Foreman, we go through the period when he could not box because of his stance against Vietnam and of course his earlier rise to become champion of world heavyweight boxing and his alliance with the Nation of Islam.Mann as expected does not go through the straight biopic, he elicits from Will Smith a great performance which was Oscar nominated, Jamie Foxx as Bundini Brown should had also got recognition and Jon Voight under heavy make up is unrecognisable and got a best supporting Oscar nod.Mann took an auteur's approach to his subject, its narrative style was not too popular at the time of its release, mainly because everyone have their own ideas as to how the film of the man should be like. Yet Mann provides enough flourish to let has have enough of a flourish of this legendary boxer.