60
New Times (L.A.) by Bill Gallo
Muhammad Ali's spirit, his life force, is not quite present here, despite Smith's astonishing mimicry and Mann's considerable perspiration.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
75
San Francisco Chronicle by Bob Graham
Connects so often and so persuasively that its shortcomings -- the movie goes slack from time to time -- really don't amount to much.
80
Michael Mann is a fluent, evocative filmmaker, and the movie is well written, expertly staged, and beautifully edited. [24 & 31 Dec 2001, p. 126]
75
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
What keeps the movie from championship status is a sense that the filmmakers see Ali's social and political contributions as extra added attractions, ultimately less important than his greatness in the ring.
70
Filled with vivid cameos and set to an infectious soul beat that effectively covers the underlying hum of calculated precision.
50
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
Ali nails its subject's anger and courage, but not his lilt; his swaggering boasts but not his sly self-irony; his power but not his grace; and his inner turmoil but not the outward joyousness that has made us come to love him.
50
We've seen Ali as the charismatic star of the real-time drama of his life. "Ali," for all its flashy filmmaking, just doesn't compare.
63
Ali is no disgrace, but it's not much of a performer, especially considering that it is one of the few hyped year-end releases that coulda been a contender.
67
Portland Oregonian by Shawn Levy
For all Smith's dedication and Mann's abilities, Ali remains a figure too big for even the big screen to contain.
70
Just about everything Mann has chosen to present is valid, substantial and convincing, but by the end, the feeling persists that while certain essences have been grasped, only part of the story has been told.