Ali Reviews
Turner Classic Movies Online
You can almost see him thinking his way through his fights...
Common Sense Media
Brutal fight scenes and frank racial issues.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/5
EmanuelLevy.Com
The challenge of dramatizing the celeb's life is only partially met nby Mann in this flawed biopic that narrowly focuses one one decade (1964-74), while gliding over Ali's private life and negletcing crucial aspects of his turbulent yet fascinating life.
Full Review
| Original Score: B-
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Smith, who has a well-developed ego of his own, not only looks like the young Ali but also sounds like the brash Louisville Lip.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)
Smith's transformation is nothing less than astounding.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Movie Gurus
No matter how good Smith and the other actors are, they seem at times dwarfed by the movie itself.
Film Quips Online
Ali contains much information, lots of emotional depth, and a triumphant performance by Smith, but its dragging pace and tendency toward digression often seem to work against its good intentions.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
Mann has emerged with only a few cuts and bruises, while Smith, to paraphrase his character, hasn't a mark.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Netflix
Michael Mann reminds us why Muhammad Ali was the greatest -- inside and outside the ring -- in 2001's best film.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/5
Cincinnati Enquirer
Exhilarating, stylish, intelligent historical drama.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/4
L.A. Weekly
The film gives Ali his due by refusing to idealize him or to gloss over his failings.
Reno Gazette-Journal
Michael Mann's Muhammad Ali film is not only a terrific biography of one of the 20th century's most important sports figures, it could well be the finest boxing movie ever made.
| Original Score: 3.5/4
Entertainment Today
Full of abstractions that are sometimes distractions... the film's structured schizophrenia, if occasionally wayward, still bears some undeniably tremendous fruit.
Full Review
| Original Score: B
Top Critic
