I’m a big film buff and actually got my minor in college in film studies.  Unfortunately, I don’t get out to the theater to see films much anymore.  That’s due more to my strange schedule than anything else, but I try to keep up with everything on DVD and PPV.  For that reason, I’m usually several months behind the curve when it comes to movies but nevertheless I make a concerted effort to see as many of them as I can.

Not surprisingly, I love good films about fighting and there have been a lot of them both fictionalized (‘Raging Bull’, ‘The Wrestler’) and not.  The life and career of Muhammad Ali has inspired a number of excellent films.  There was the Michael Mann (aka the creator of the ‘Miami Vice’ TV series) directed ‘Ali’ which starred Will Smith and gave Jamie Foxx his first shot at legit acting.  Though the film degenerates into some inscrutable Afro-centric nonsense by the end, its mostly well done and very well acted.  Perhaps the best film about Ali is the 1996 documentary ‘When We Were Kings’, which covered the classic Ali/Foreman bout in Zaire.  The 2000 made for TV documentary “Ali-Frazier I:  One Nation…Divisible” is also well worth seeing.

The most recent addition to the pantheon of great films based on Ali is the 2009 release “Facing Ali”.  It’s loosely based on the book ‘Facing Ali’ (they’ve also done one on ‘Facing Tyson’) and retells the life and career of ‘The Greatest’ through the commentary of the men who faced him in the ring.  The filmmakers assembled 10 former Ali foes from Frazier and Foreman to Sir Henry Cooper and Earnie Shavers to talk about their fights against him and the broader implications of his life and career.

One recurring problem with biographical films on Ali is that too often his considerable sociological significance overshadows what a damn good fighter he was.  ‘Facing Ali’ does an effective job of balancing these two facets of his life without giving short shrift to either.  For fight fans, its fascinating to hear his opponents break down the nuances of their individual matchups with Ali.  From tough Brit Sir Henry Cooper to Larry Holmes, they each provide unique insights into their strategy and preparation to fight Ali as well as what happened after the bell rang.  They also provide expert analysis on several opponents who are no longer with us, most notably Sonny Liston.   They don’t sugarcoat anything, at various points suggesting that Liston took a dive in his second fight against Ali due to threats from the Nation of Islam (something I don’t personally buy) to Ken Norton suggesting that Ali’s jaw wasn’t broken in their first fight until the 10th round.  Norton is generally very complimentary of Ali, saying that the fights ‘gave him a life’ but dismisses suggestions that he broke his opponent’s jaw early in the fight as an embellishment intended to further mythologize ‘The Greatest’.

Perhaps the best thing that ‘Facing Ali’ does is bring to life some of Ali’s lower profile opponents.   While everyone knows George Foreman and Joe Frazier, its great to learn more about fighters like Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers and George Chuvalo.  These men aren’t exactly household names among the general public, and each gets to tell their story about how they became fighters and how life has worked out for them since their career ended.  Though some have had their ups and downs, the overall tone of their stories is generally hopeful and upbeat.  At the very least, its great context for fight fans to learn more about some of Ali’s opponents that history has rendered little more than names on his career resume.

The film is very well edited, interweaving fight footage and archival clips with interview segments.  Like the best sports films, ‘Facing Ali’ is extremely captivating for fans of ‘The Sweet Science‘ but also entertaining and well done enough to keep the attention of non fight fans.   ‘Facing Ali’ is now out on DVD and is well worth taking the time to watch. Below this post is the trailer for the film.

Facing Ali on DVD

Facing Ali at IMDB