Movie Review: Ali (2001)

An earnest biopic of boxing's greatest championship, Ali captures the entertaining circus surrounding the man and the wider social context of his achievements, but not the essence of the human being.

Starting in 1964, and set against the backdrop of the turbulent 1960s and the rise of the Civil Rights movement, the story of Ali is told through a series of episodes capturing the key struggles of his life: his fight to change his name and be accepted as Muhammad Ali rather than Cassius Clay; his shady and prolonged relationship with the Nation of Islam and notorious leaders like Malcolm X; his various relationships with a succession of women; and his multi-year fight with the United States government after his refusal to be drafted into the army, a struggle which went all the way to the Supreme Court and robbed him of more than three prime fighting years.

Sprinkled amongst the personal history are excellent recreations of some of Ali's key bouts including, at age 22, his 1964 defeat of Sonny Liston to gain the world heavyweight title for the first time. The 1971 "fight of the century" against Joe Frazier also receives prominence, but more for the build-up rather than what happened inside the ring.

The final 45 minutes of Ali settle down to recount the tale of the epic Rumble in the Jungle, the 1974 fight and media event hyped by the flamboyant Don King and sponsored by President Mobutu in Kinshasa, Zaire, in which Ali adopted the rope-a-dope tactic and ultimately defeated the brutal George Foreman to regain his title.

Despite the film's length of close to 160 minutes, and an excellent Will Smith performance, Ali's core and motivations remain mostly hidden behind the superficialities. The well known quotes such as "your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see" and "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee" receive plenty of exposure, as does Ali's adamant rejection of the name Cassius Clay, on the basis that it was imposed on his family by a slaver. But otherwise, Ali's personality is reduced to endless taunting of his opponents, and an acknowledged lack of self control with the ladies. The origins of the fires that drove him to success and the building blocks of his personality and boxing talent are conspicuously absent.

Michael Mann directs with respect for his subject and plenty of patience to allow the key chapters of his life unfold, while Will Smith gets into Ali's skin and picks up his distinctive expressions and mannerisms. But the movie is hampered by the absence of any compelling secondary characters, the committee of four screenwriters having to pump-up sportscaster Howard Cossell (Jon Voight) into an unlikely main figure in Ali's career. Cornerman Drew Bundini Brown (Jamie Foxx) and Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles) also receive undue attention without ever connecting, while Angelo Dundee (Ron Silver) unfortunately remains a peripheral figure.

Ali, much like its subject matter, enjoys many highlights and suffers through some lulls. The overall decision is a victory, but not quite a knock-out.

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Movie Review: Public Enemies (2009)

A potent mix of elements from Bonnie And Clyde (1967) and The Untouchables (1987), Public Enemies never quite reaches the same heights as classic crime movie dramas, but is nevertheless an often compelling yarn about charismatic bad guys, their dames, and the g-men out to get them.

Public Enemies is based on the true story of notorious criminal John Dillinger, who was designated public enemy number one in the 1930s for a string of daring Depression-era bank robberies and prison escapes. A media darling and something of a folk hero for treating customers with respect as he held up the bank managers, Dillinger (Johnny Depp) falls in love with Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) without slowing down his often violent crime spree.

Under the growing influence of a young J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), an FBI task force led by Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) is created to track down Dillinger and his associates. Dillinger repeatedly embarrasses the police and the FBI by slipping through their fingers before he is eventually betrayed, cornered and killed outside a Chicago movie theatre.

Director Michael Mann puts the hefty 140 minutes of running time to good use and finds a reasonably satisfying balance between intense action sequences, including prison escapes, bank robberies, and hideaway shoot-outs, and the development of the three main characters. Depp succeeds in giving Dillinger some soul, Bale provides Purvis with grim determination, and Cotillard captures the wide-eyed attraction of women who have nothing to criminals who offer a life of unimaginable adventure.

Public Enemies would have benefited from a purposeful trimming of the supporting cast. The film occasionally stumbles when numerous secondary characters get in the way. Many Dillinger associates clutter the screen and are given little time to breathe (often literally). Criminals Baby Face Nelson, Tommy Carroll, Red Hamilton, Pretty Boy Floyd, Ed Shouse, Pete Pierpont, Charles Makley and Alvin Karpis are just some of the fellow gangsters who make an appearance in the character-heavy script (co-written by Mann), but they do little except snarl and fire their weapons. On the other side of the law, another half dozen agents form Bale's posse, and they generally just appear earnest and follow instructions.

The cinematography, costume design and set design succeed in bringing to life a vibrant 1930s setting grand enough to absorb the unfolding larger than life drama, but with more emphasis on glitz and glamour than depression.

Public Enemies has epic ambitions, and while the human focus is spread too thin and works only when attention is maintained on the main characters, the action-oriented scenes live up to expectations, exuberantly spraying thrills from the barrels of smoking Tommy guns.

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