The Trials of Muhammad Ali (2013)

The Trials of Muhammad Ali: Directed by Bill Siegel. With Eamonn Andrews, Muhammad Ali, David Susskind, George W. Bush. The legal battles of the great American boxer against being conscripted into the US military during the Vietnam War.

“Marvelous documentary revealing little known aspects of this iconic Americanu0026#39;s journey. As a teenager, Ali was backed by a coterie of rich, white Kentucky financiers with a keen eye for picking Kentucky Derby winners and one promising prize fighter. Like the rest of the world, they had no idea that Ali (then known as Cassius Clay, named after an abolitionist) would blossom into a veritable goldmine. Yet Ali remained u0026quot;unboughtu0026quot; throughout his career, refusing to curb his personal convictions for anyone. Arguably, his unblinking allegiance to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad may have been misplaced, but, as the film shows, it was strains of this dogged allegiance to principle that led the Supreme Court to reverse Aliu0026#39;s draft dodger conviction. The film wastes too much time on self-important talking heads (including a family member and Nation of Islam representatives) who appear to overstate their influence on the now stoic Ali. The film also lingers a bit long with Malcolm Xu0026#39;s concurrent struggles with the NOI and not long enough with the troubling period when Ali, broke and title-stripped, embarked upon awkward college lecture and way, way off-Broadway tours. It closes with a tearful tribute from his daughter and brother (who bears a striking resemblance to Ali), and a full-circle romp back to the Olympics, from whence his public persona emerged. This isnu0026#39;t a fight film, itu0026#39;s an exonerative victory lap by u0026quot;The Greatestu0026quot; that merits eight heavyweight forks from AfroPixFlix.”