Michael Mann: Ranking His Films From Worst To Best
7. Ali
At just under three hours in length, a primo Christmas Day release date, and the irresistible double-whammy that is the worlds biggest movie star, Will Smith, playing arguably the worlds biggest athlete, Manns 2001 biopic Ali certainly seemed to have all of the trappings of an Oscar-caliber biopic. Add to that an excellent supporting cast, a script by Forrest Gump-writer Eric Roth and, of course, a red-hot director in Mann, fresh off of his Oscar nomination for 1999s The Insider, and youve got about as close to a "sure thing" as you're going to find. So with all of that going for it, why does so much of Ali feel so... eh? Part of it is the fact that Mann never takes the time to really understand his titular character: for all of the films stonewalling about Alis religious beliefs, failed marriages and political controversy (not to mention the actual, you know, boxing), far too much of the films runtime is dedicated to skimming the surface of these aspects instead of stopping to take the time to focus on how these facets formed Ali as a person. With so much talent on and off screen, Ali could have - and should have - been something special; as it is, its an entertaining, ambitious, yet frustratingly shallow look at one of Americas true sporting legends.
