Ali

Ali (2001)

  • 67% of critics liked it
    (149 reviews)

  • 65% of users liked it
    (102,588 ratings)

Notoriously obsessive director Michael Mann and star Will Smith devoted nearly two years and over 100 million dollars from the coffers of Columbia Pictures and other financiers to creating this biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali, which focuses on the ten-year period of 1964-1974. In that time,… More

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R, 2 hr. 36 min.
Directed By
Michael Mann
Written By
Michael Mann, Eric Roth, Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson
Genres
Drama
In Theaters
Dec 25, 2001 Wide
On DVD
Apr 30, 2002
Columbia Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

    Ali is a far more complex creature than this movie allows for.

  • Rex Reed, New York Observer

    It is well-intentioned, sketchy, sprawling and unremarkable. At two hours and 38 minutes, it is also long-winded and exhausting.

  • Charles Taylor, Salon.com

    This could be the only movie we'll get on the fighter, and it's just not good enough.

  • Desson Thomson, Washington Post

    It's the boxer you enjoy, not the sluggish 15 rounds the filmmakers put him through.

  • Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

    It's good -- but Ali himself was the greatest. So a reluctant, kind of mild thumbs up for this.

Read all 13 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • xGary X


    This biopic concentrates on the period between Muhammad Ali gaining the heavyweight championship of the world as Cassius Clay, through to when regained it at the "Rumble In The Jungle" ten years later. Will Smith (minus the face fuzz) was the obvious and perfect casting… More

  • Eric A


    Smith has a tough role to tackle with Ali, but he does a tremendous job with it. Solid.

  • Manu G


    The Champ is here! Good movie and terrific acting by Will Smith as Muhammad Ali, he really deserved his 2002 nomination for best actor oscar. They story to me was very different and religious and tedious and wasn't that interesting as I would have like it to be but it was decent… More

  • Chris W


    Michael Mann is a talented filmmaker I really like, but his last few films that I've watched have been a little perplexing. They have good intentions, and are competently made, but they feel very much in their own little world. It's hard to really get into what he's… More

  • Christopher A


    'Ali' is an interesting film about the early career of "Cassius Clay" who of course would eventually become 'Mohammed Ali'. Unfortunately this film is more of a documentary than a blockbuster. While the fights themselves are well filmed and exciting,… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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