Ali: the never-ending story

Good, but far from great. That is the defining characteristic of Ali, a movie that combines a talented cast and powerful boxing scenes with choppy direction and an overlong running time. Despite all the hype and anticipation, Ali isn't groundbreaking or spectacular. Rather, it's a decent film with a host of small, yet significant problems.

The confusing and jerky plot is balanced by the skilled and dexterous acting, most notable in the case of Will Smith, playing Ali. Strong, realistic boxing scenes are devalued by their dragging length. The movie inspires, yet bores. It is moving, but strangely lacking in the character development of the supporting cast- especially in the case of Ali's multiple wives. The movie presented two alternating viewpoints: longing for an end to the rambling plot, yet at times sitting on the edge of my seat, enthralled by Ali's complex and remarkable life.

Despite its moments of excitement, the movie's multitude of shortcomings constantly detract from the film, right from the beginning. I don't know much about Muhammad Ali, and I'm not a boxing fan. So when the movie starts out just before his fight for the Heavyweight crown against Sonny Liston, I didn't know Ali (or Cassius Clay, his birth name which he still uses at this point), and quite frankly, I didn't care if he won. And that is the movie's most prominent flaw: the producers want you to care for Ali, to look up to his courage and charisma, yet the movie fails at that most basic task- making the audience love the title character.

Once Ali wins the crown, the movie follows (in a drawn out and boring fashion) his growing political importance, his marriage to his first wife Sonji Roi (played by Jada Pinkett Smith, Smith's real wife) and his relationship with Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles) and the nation of Islam. Ali is the undisputed champion, and the Nation is his unwavering supporter.

That is, until Ali engages in his controversial battle against being drafted for the Vietnam war. The film documents his refusal to be drafted, the revocation of his boxing license, and the confiscation of his passport in a choppy sequence of often unrelated scenes. When Ali is forbidden to box and is facing a possible five years in prison for refusing the draft, the Nation drops him like a used rag to struggle alone in his losing battle against the U.S. government.

Yet somehow- and the details of this are none too clear- Ali manages to arrange a fight with Joe Frazier (James Toney), the new heavyweight champion now that Ali has been unjustly de-crowned. Apparently, quite a few years have passed, yet the movie does nothing to chronicle the significant passage of time, rather counting on the viewer's intelligence to solve the puzzle of how old Ali is, and what exactly is happening in the movie.

This is the point when the movie turns into an even greater conundrum. Who won in the fight of Ali vs. Frazier? I assumed Ali, but I had my doubts, due to the movie's continuing lack of clarity and explanation. Not that the movie wasn't long enough as is- but some parts of the movie could have been much more comprehensible.

After defeating Frazier, Ali must fight George Foreman (Charles Shufford), a more formidable foe. The fight is to be held and promoted in Africa, the first all-black promoted and organized event. At last, the movie ends with this long, long, long, way too long, boxing match.

Along the way, Ali divorces his first wife, marries a second wife, and meets yet another woman while in Zaire. Although the movie portrays Ali as a stand-up guy with a good sense of humor and plays down his womanizing, the truth of Ali's personality is inevitable: he is arrogant, self-centered, and inconsiderate.

And there it is. The movie tries to make you sympathize with Ali, yet behind his shining victories lurks the reality. While the film had good points, the insurmountable obstacle for it to have true cinematic success is that it is a biography, and Ali wasn't- and isn't- truly great. Actually, truth be told, he's a bit of a jerk.