Film / Reviews
I Am Ali
I Am Ali (PG)
USA 2014 111 mins Dir: Clare Lewins
Muhammad Ali was the greatest. Indeed, he was born for greatness. He was also a loving husband, a wonderful father and a devoted friend of terminally ill children. Furthermore, he was an incredible human being, one of the great heroes of all time, the most famous American ever, and king of the world. Little wonder that his ex-wife burst into tears when she met him again after a few years apart, having seen god when she looked into his eyes.
At some point while reading the above, even those completely devoid of cynicism will have exclaimed: “Oh, come off it!” But you’ll find all these claims and more in Clare Lewins’ film, which swiftly succumbs to hagiography. The argument goes that, to use an appropriate analogy, punches are always pulled when making an authorised documentary. But in return, the filmmaker gets access that would otherwise be denied them. In this instance, Lewins interviews most of the key members of Ali’s family and inner circle. And crucially, the advance publicity assured us, she is able to use the legendary pugilist’s own contemporary “audio journals” to illuminate his life. In fact, these turn out to be a bit of a damp squib, comprising mainly recorded telephone conversations with his young daughters. The recordings demonstrate only that he cared deeply for their welfare and education while they were being raised by his mother-in-law.
There’s no question that Ali was charismatic, funny, brave, principled, personally generous and a powerful role model, all of which is amply illustrated in the film’s skilfully compiled collection of archive footage. But those with limited interest in watching grown men walloping one another in the ring who were hoping that Lewins might shed new light on the arguably more interesting aspects of his life – his conversion to Islam, alliance with the Black Power movement and noble refusal to fight in Vietnam, which resulted in public vilification and cost him a large part of his boxing career – will come away disappointed. The overall tone is like one of those record company-sponsored fans-only music documentaries or a rather premature fawning obituary (Ali is still alive and, if not entirely well, living with Parkinson’s in quiet seclusion). As multiple infidelities are glossed over, dissenting voices excluded and the mildest of criticisms retracted – “My father was not perfect” is about as damning as it gets – one can’t help feeling that in attempting to build up Ali the icon the film is actually doing a disservice to Ali the man.
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