

Muhammad Ali plays himself in this autobiogrphy, covering the 1960s including becoming the champ, rivalries with Frazier and Foreman, conversion to Islam, and refusal to go to war. The script was written by Ali himself and certainly seems true to what we know about him in popular culture, interspersing real fight and press footage in between acted scenes.

The context in which all these events take place tries to tell some of the story we haven't necessarily heard. Ali is drinking from 'colored' fountains and depending on white benefactors, when he meets Malcolm X (James Earl Jones). He discovers a point of view he didn't know existed, but that he connects with right away; one that obviously upsets the status quo that has come to see him a certain way. The overt racism never ends, even when he's at the peak of success. I'm in no way a student of Ali, but know what most people know about him; these contextual pieces that informed his decision making are what give the film a unique insight.

Ali's acting is... ok, he's playing himself after all. The supporting cast is excellent: along with James Earl Jones we have Robert Duvall and Ernest Borgnine playing Ali's core team, along with a few others playing themselves.

Interesting things:

-early in the film there is a woman who looks like she's waiting for someone on a downtown street corner. Ali pulls over and asks if she would like to go on a date and she says yes and gets in his car, not knowing who he is. Is this how it worked in the sixties???

-Ali is shown doing a lot of hustling to promote his own fights, including standing in front of a Cassius Clay-branded bus and gathering a crowd like a street preacher, to sell tickets.

-we see domestic abuse by Ali; the scenes didn't age well and he seems like a controlling narcissist. I wonder if he put these scenes in thinking that he came off as the righteous one? Spoiler alert, he does not. 

- I don't think this is the first time someone has played themselves in an autobiography, but it's a bit of a mind bender. For example: he acts out the scene where he meets Belinda at the bakery... only that's not Belinda, that's an actor playing Belinda. He is really HIM though. Wouldn't that have been weird?? Especially for someone who isn't an actor-actor. 

-boxing training montage, where the actor is actually a real boxer

-The song The Greatest Love of All, which I had only knew as being by Whitney Houston, was written for this movie! Performed by George Benson. 

The Greatest (1977)