"Ali" (2001) Directed by Michael Mann

“But I ain’t going no ten thousand miles to help murder and kill other poor people”.

Opening Scene: February 24th 1964

Over basic opening credits and to the strains of a brilliant version of Sam Cooke’s “Bring it on home to me”, we’re introduced to “Cassius Clay” aka “Muhammad Ali” (Will Smith) for the first time on an early morning training run. Anonymous in grey white sweatpants and top, with a passing police car and policeman asking “what are you running from, son?” the angles are all acute, both on Sam Cooke and Cassius Clay, shot from behind, underneath, with Cooke particularly obscured and purposely so as he sings live on a stage to an enthralled and baying crowd. The opening two minutes are a juxtaposition between the two, a singing and soulful Cooke in front of his adoring crowd, Clay anonymous on yet another early morning training run.

Training run over, the action cuts to a montage of Clay training on his speed ball in the gym, inter cut with images of his next opponent “Sonny Liston” (real life ex boxer Michael Bentt) and Clay’s early life of “Coloureds Only” bus trips and of being with his Father “Cassius Clay Senior” (Giancarlo Esposito) as a young child, watching the painting of an image of Jesus Christ in a church and quickly edited to a teenage Cassius Clay, standing at the back of a church whilst “Malcolm X” (Mario van Peebles) preaches to his community, a young Cassius Clay enthralled and transfixed. The camera here never moves from Smith and is one of the quietest and perfectly placed scenes of the entire film. Throughout all of this early exposition, the segments themselves have been brief but effective, and always backed by an inter cut back to Sam Cooke and his adoring crowd. During the speed ball training particularly and the inter cut imagery, Clay is wide eyed and staring straight ahead, one camera directly on Smith, only cut away for either the back story imagery or his reflection in a nearby mirror as he trains, before a close up zoom brings his speed ball training to an end.

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The above opening paragraphs are taken from my original spoiler free review of "Ali" penned and published over a decade ago, transferred to my Medium blog site on 14th January 2023 and which can now be read in full and for free via my Substack blog site and my original and updated article linked immediately below:

https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/ali-2001-d9f4ae099849

This spoiler free review is also integral to volume 1 of my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection". Currently only available via e-book, each volume of exhaustive and numerous film reviews are priced at £4.99 however should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package you can read each and every volume for free:

Volume 1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4HHDL56

All 7 Volume Series

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4HZSTTH?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn

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