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Ali (2001)
Nominated for the Academy Award for actor and supporting actor. Not everything that it could have been, this film is the story of the life of world champion boxer Muhammad Ali. The film’s producer, Jon Peters, had spent almost a decade trying to get this project to happen. The original script spanned the entire life of Ali, but was incredibly long and was cut down to focus on his adult life. The film follows Ali as he begins his boxing career as Cassius Clay, goes through various women in his life, becomes involved with the Nation of Islam, has a life changing experience in the “Rumble in the Jungle” while fighting George Foreman in Zaire, and is betrayed by his friends and business associates. The film was well put together, and the action inside the ring was incredible, but it is agonizingly slow at times. The real highlight of the film was watching Will Smith’s brilliant protrayal of Ali, in which all of Smith’s hard work pays off. (Written and directed by Michael Mann)
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