ALI

Focusing on ten years in the life of the legendary Muhammad Ali (Will Smith), ALI starts in 1964 with a young Cassius Clay beginning his meteoric rise through the tough world of professional boxing. He meets and is greatly influenced by controversial civil rights leader Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles), who becomes something of a mentor to the brash boxer. Converting to Islam and changing his name to Muhammad Ali, the boxer becomes something of a political lightning rod with his outspoken views on racism and the growing Vietnam War. His refusal to be drafted into a war he did not support gets Ali stripped of his hard-fought boxing title. Even with a number of supporters in his corner, including sportscaster Howard Cosell (Jon Voight), Ali is jailed for a couple of years. When he starts training again he has a newfound view of the world, racism, and politics. He also begins to realize that outside of the boxing ring, he is seen as a role model in the growing black consciousness movement of the early 1970s. Picking up a new trainer and manager, Ali begins training for the most important comeback fight of his career: the “Rumble in the Jungle” with longtime boxing adversary, George Foreman. The fight itself, though, becomes almost secondary to the racial politics swirling around the highly-publicized bout. Director Michael Mann, with his signature visual style, gives ALI a visceral punch that becomes almost as dynamic as the man it portrays.