Review: I Am Ali
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Despite the first-person title, Muhammad Ali's absence is keenly felt throughout Clare Lewins' new documentary.
City Paper grade: B
Despite the first-person title, Muhammad Ali’s absence is keenly felt throughout Clare Lewins’ new documentary. Drawing on adoring interviews with members of Ali’s inner circle — family, trainers and managers, even former opponents — I Am Ali often feels like an extended eulogy for the 72-year-old boxing legend, who is still alive but silenced by Parkinson’s disease. Lewis makes up for this void at the center of her film by drawing on Ali’s own audio journals from the late ’70s (a time when the novelty of the technology saw many people dabbling in home recording), many of them capturing calls between The Greatest and his young children. This, in addition to the prevalence of voices from those closest to him, lends a more personal perspective to the oft-told public story, even if those voices tend to crowd out dissenting opinions. Ali’s controversial involvement with the Nation of Islam and opposition to the Vietnam War are presented solely as courageous stands in the fight for civil rights, without a single critical, present-day opinion to be heard; even his notorious feud with Joe Frazier is presented with an air of all-is-forgiven by his late rival’s son. Despite the air of idolatry, I Am Ali makes a strong case for Ali’s place in the pantheon of 20th-century cultural figures, while the wealth of personal and public footage are vivid reminders of his overwhelming force of personality, no matter how diminished it may be today.
