Ali

Ten years in a champion's life

Michael Mann does not cover Muhammad Ali's whole career. He focuses on 1964 to 1974, the busiest decade: the title taken from Sonny Liston, the conversion and name change, the break with Malcolm X, the 1967 draft refusal, the years without a licence, the loss to Joe Frazier in the 1971 "Fight of the Century" at Madison Square Garden, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa on 30 October 1974 against George Foreman. It runs 157 minutes, 165 in the director's cut.

Real boxers opposite Will Smith

The production refused "Hollywood fighting", where punches pass in front of the lens without landing. Ali's opponents are played by high-level boxers: Michael Bentt, a former WBO heavyweight world champion, is Sonny Liston; James Toney, a world champion in several divisions, is Joe Frazier; heavyweight Charles Shufford plays George Foreman. Shufford was allowed to hit Will Smith as hard as he liked, as long as he did not knock him out.

What a boxer will recognise

The ring scenes reproduce Ali's footwork, his low guard, his pull-backs and his fast jab. The Kinshasa sequence shows the rope-a-dope: lean on the ropes, let Foreman punch himself out, then counter. Ron Silver plays Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer, and Jamie Foxx plays Drew "Bundini" Brown.

Production and reception

Filming began in Los Angeles on 11 January 2001 and moved to New York, Chicago, Miami and Mozambique, which stood in for Zaire. Released in the United States on 25 December 2001, the film cost more than 100 million dollars and grossed 87.7 million worldwide, a box-office failure. Critics were kinder, with a 69% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Will Smith was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and Jon Voight, who plays broadcaster Howard Cosell, for Best Supporting Actor.