In 1964, a brash, new pro boxer, fresh from his Olympic gold medal victory, explodes onto the scene: Cassius Clay. Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African Americans in sport with his proud public self-confidence and his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. Yet at the top of his game, both Ali’s personal and professional lives face the ultimate test.
<%%item_is_not_adult%%

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Muhammad Ali / Cassius Clay: Will Smith
• Drew ‘Bundini’ Brown: Jamie Foxx
• Howard Cosell: Jon Voight
• Malcolm X: Mario Van Peebles
• Angelo Dundee: Ron Silver
• Howard Bingham: Jeffrey Wright
• Don King: Mykelti Williamson
• Sonji Roi: Jada Pinkett Smith
• Belinda Ali: Nona Gaye
• Veronica Porche: Michael Michele
• Chauncey Eskridge: Joe Morton
• Dr. Ferdie Pacheco: Paul Rodríguez
• Bradley: Bruce McGill
• Herbert Muhammad: Barry Shabaka Henley
• Cassius Clay, Sr.: Giancarlo Esposito
• Luis Sarria: Laurence Mason
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: LeVar Burton
• Elijah Muhammad: Albert Hall
• Robert Lipsyte: David Cubitt
• Joe Smiley: Ted Levine
• Odessa: Candy Ann Brown
• Woman Singer: Shari Watson
• Joseph Mobutu: Malick Bowens
• Sonny Liston: Michael Bentt
• ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier: James Toney
• George Foreman: Charles Shufford
• Floyd Paterson: Rufus Dorsey
• Rudy Clay / Rahaman Ali: David Haines
• Betty Shabazz: Victoria Dillard
• Marlin Thomas: Brad Greenquist
• Young Cassius Clay: Maestro Harrell
• Jimmy Cannon: Kim Robillard
• Madison Square Garden Announcer: David Purdham
• Gordon Davidson: Gailard Sartain
• Lieutenant Jerome Claridge: Wade Williams
• Induction FBI Man: Guy Van Swearingen
• Bob Arum: Marc Grapey
• Malcolm’s Bodyguard: Eddie Bo Smith Jr.
• Asian Cosmetologist: Alexandra Bokyun Chun
• Assistant Director: John Gleeson Connolly
• Referee Arthur Mercante: Jack Reiss
• Hampton House Announcer: Chico Benymon
• Prosecutor: Ronald A. DiNicola
• Reporter: Steven Randazzo
• Reporter: Ray Bokhour
• Madison Square Garden Reporter: Leonard Termo
• Madison Square Garden Reporter: Johnny Ortiz
• Harlem Neighbor: Reginald Footman
• Miami Cop: Christian Stolte
• Pointer Sister: Carol Hatchett
• London Banker: Graham Hopkins
• CIA Man: Daniel Janks
• Black Pilot: Michael Dorn
• Reporter in Zaire: Graham Clarke
• Cameraman (uncredited): Ron Madoff
• Party Guest (uncredited): Deborah Smith Ford
• News Reporter (uncredited): Donald Dowd
• Club Patron (uncredited): Matisha Baldwin
• Upscale Fight Fan (uncredited): Greg Bronson
• Dr. King’s Driver (uncredited): Lionel D. Carson
• Harlem Resident (uncredited): Ralph Cole Jr.
• Roving Reporter (uncredited): Vincent De Paul
• Diplomat’s Wife (uncredited): Trish Dempsey
• Sparring Partner (uncredited): Richard Fitzpatrick
• Foreman-Frazier Fight Judge (uncredited): Edward C. Gillow
• Club Goer (uncredited): Brandon T. Jackson
• Dumbfounded Spectator (uncredited): Michael Keyes
• Brother ‘Joe’ (uncredited): Leon
• Liston Fight Reporter (uncredited): Valentine Miele
• Dancer (uncredited): Jermaine Montell
• Louis Rodriguez (uncredited): John O. Nelson
• Angry Fight Fan (uncredited): Hunter F. Roberts
• Heckler (uncredited): Sheldon Robins
• Angry Fight Fan (uncredited): Prince Shah
• Ringside Photographer (uncredited): Robert Standley
• Times Ringside Photographer (uncredited): Larry Vigus
• Fight Fan (uncredited): Jackie Zane
• Ringside Photographer (uncredited): Ray Uhler
• Dressing Room Weigh-In Guy: Vic Manni
• New York Reporter: Mark Salem

Film Crew:

• Screenplay: Eric Roth
• Editor: Stephen E. Rivkin
• Casting: Victoria Thomas
• Producer: Michael Mann
• Editor: William Goldenberg
• Original Music Composer: Lisa Gerrard
• Editor: Lynzee Klingman
• Producer: Jon Peters
• Costume Design: Marlene Stewart
• Director of Photography: Emmanuel Lubezki
• Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
• Art Direction: Jonathan Lee
• Set Designer: Sloane U’Ren
• Gaffer: John Buckley
• Hair Department Head: Vera Mitchell
• Stunt Coordinator: Joel Kramer
• Production Design: John Myhre
• Music Editor: Lisa Jaime
• Executive Producer: Graham King
• Screenplay: Christopher Wilkinson
• Screenplay: Stephen J. Rivele
• Costume Supervisor: Diana Cilliers
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Michael J. McAlister
• Producer: James Lassiter
• Story: Gregory Allen Howard
• Original Music Composer: Pieter Bourke
• Producer: Paul Ardaji
• Editor: Stuart Waks
• Unit Production Manager: Kevin De La Noy
• Sound Effects Editor: James P. Lay
• Makeup Artist: Judy Murdock
• Assistant Art Director: Richard Fojo
• Visual Effects Producer: Robert Stadd
• Makeup Artist: Suzi Ostos
• Set Costumer: Sukari McGill
• Makeup Artist: Keith Hall
• Costume Supervisor: John Casey
• Makeup Department Head: Beverly Jo Pryor
• Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Andy Nelson
• Sound Effects Editor: Craig Henighan
• Set Decoration: James V. Kent
• Sound Recordist: Robert Renga
• Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Anna Behlmer
• Set Dresser: Jeremy Alan Read
• Supervising Sound Editor: Gregory King
• Assistant Sound Editor: Shaughnessy Hare
• Visual Effects Producer: Kevin Elam
• Music Editor: Stephanie Lowry
• Sound Recordist: Craig Heath
• Production Supervisor: Thomas Hayslip
• Set Dresser: Shane Reed
• Music Editor: Vicki Hiatt
• Set Dresser: Michael Thurman
• Assistant Art Director: Rando Schmook
• Assistant Art Director: David W. Krummel
• Production Supervisor: Elayne Schneiderman
• Post Production Supervisor: Michael Tinger
• Set Designer: Lynn Christopher
• Makeup Supervisor: Lydia Milars
• Sound Recordist: Sean Landeros
• Sound Effects Editor: Brian Risner
• Executive Producer: Lee Caplin
• Set Dresser: Karen E. Burnett
• Assistant Sound Editor: Christopher Emerson
• Set Designer: Nicholas Scott
• Assistant Art Director: Nicklas Farrantello
• Art Direction: Bill Rea
• Set Costumer: Gina Marie Ome
• Set Dresser: Chuck Coffman
• Set Dresser: Fred Schwendel
• Art Direction: Tomas Voth
• Set Dresser: Cary Whittaker
• Makeup Artist: Carol Brown
• Set Decoration: Jane B. Johnson
• Second Second Assistant Director: Jody Spilkoman
• Set Designer: Marcos Alvarez
• Set Dresser: Steve Park

Movie Reviews:

• CinemaSerf: There are flashes of the legendary Muhammad Ali wit and quick-thinking delivery peppered throughout this otherwise rather long and ponderous story of the life of Cassius Clay from relative poverty through to his mastery of not just the boxing ring but of the television media that, at that point, fed successfully from this truly global sport. It’s Will Smith who takes centre stage after his gold medal victory at the Tokyo Olympiad in 1964 and like many other pugilists in history, his character offers the down-trodden, working class, an inspiration. With sweat, tears and hard work he can escape the ghetto and have his fame and fortune, so why not them? What Michael Mann now proceeds to do is offer us a biopic of this man – of his peccadilloes, his religious beliefs, his persecution by the government when he refuses to be drafted to Vietnam and of some of his friendships with the great and the good of the equal rights movement that were gaining in prominence and effectiveness under the likes of Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles). We are presented with a plausibly flawed individual, but one who is a proud and savvy man who knows just how to push the buttons to keeps his life-blood’s publicity machine going. To that end, here, Smith is well supported by Jamie Foxx’s “Bundini”, the long-suffering Angelo Dundee (Ron Silver) and by Jon Voight as his follicularly challenged media foil from ABC television – Howard Cosell. It’s Smith that rather underwhelms. He delivers the set-pieces well enough, presumably he could rehearse them – but the rest of his persona is all rather weak, undercooked and I felt really over-written. There’s way too much melodrama and speculation and not enough of what made the man an household name (and favourite) in the first place – his fighting. For such a rich source this is all rather meandering and lacking in substance. Maybe we could have directors cut – only 45 minutes shorter?