Films of the 00s: Ali

My first retrospective trip back to the movies of 2001 is another conversation review with Mainly Movies, this time devoted to Michael Mann's idiosyncratic and commercially underperforming bio-epic Ali. No question the movie is internally inconsistent in style, rhythm, and emphasis, but I couldn't help noticing that Ali was often invoked with embarrassment if not outright derogation in recent reviews of Public Enemies, and having admired the movie tremendously during its commercial run even as I struggled a bit to grasp what Mann was up to, I've been eager for a long while to revisit the movie and stick up for its intelligence and its unusual ambitions. I can see why Tim feels that the movie "has more flow than shape," and I have a few misgivings of my own (and a few more that, as ever, I didn't find time to err in this space), but we both still respect the movie tremendously, with perhaps a bit more visceral enthusiasm on my part. Have a look, and tell us what you think.