"Ali" (2001)

During the final fight I had to wonder whether the men's shorts were the same color in this film as they were in the real fight. I am very curious about how the director & writers chose which details to mimic entirely and which they would modify (how and why, etc.).

I like that the style of film was documentarish. (Unsteady camera, people walking through shots, unusual vantage points...) I got the impression (from the cast, the plot and the tone) that the film was all about respect for Ali himself. It was just drenched in it. The thing could have been flashier, it could have been different but wasn't.
I was very pleased to see so many send-ups to When We Were Kings (1996). That helps with the respect factor, too.

Smith's portrayal of Ali was mesmerizing.

I didn't know Jamie Foxx nor Jon Voigt were in this film - turns out I didn't know much about this film at all. It's strange to me to think that it flew so swiftly under my radar. I just didn't have a file on it at all.

Both of those actors did a wonderful job, too. They weren't themselves at all.

Watching Malcom X's assassination evoked a response in me that I didn't expect. Firstly, using a shotgun just seems more cruel than anything. Then the two follow-up shots, calculated and unafraid, send a message that I don't want to try to interpret. I suppose what surprized me most about my reaction was that I barely knew the character, as far as attachment bred by the film goes. (Usually they want us to love someone before they take em away. Unless it's a bad guy. I didn't realize what his assasination meant until a moment later. I was just shocked because of the way it happened, because..I guess...he's a man, a person.)

9.2/10