{"id":1970,"date":"2014-10-12T19:09:35","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T02:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviesharkdeblore.com\/site\/?p=1970"},"modified":"2014-10-12T22:14:11","modified_gmt":"2014-10-13T05:14:11","slug":"i-am-ali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/reviews\/i-am-ali\/","title":{"rendered":"I AM ALI"},"content":{"rendered":"

By:\u00a0 debbie lynn elias<\/strong><\/p>\n

Directed by British filmmaker Clare Lewins, who readily admits \u201cI knew nothing at all about boxing when I started this project\u201d, I AM ALI gives us a more intimate look at the man behind the myth that is Muhammad Ali.\u00a0 Although much has been written, filmed, photographed and published about Ali with archival footage as nothing new to us, the context within which Lewins presents it is.\u00a0 Providing us with an up close and personal look at Muhammad Ali, thanks to interviews with his close friends, decades long business associates like Gene Kilroy, boxing greats George Foreman and Mike Tyson, the legendary Angelo Dundee, some of Ali\u2019s opponents, fans and family members, what sets this documentary apart are the interviews with two of Ali\u2019s daughters, Hana and Maryum, as well as son Muhammad Jr. and one of his ex-wives, and the inclusion of excerpts of audio tapes made by Ali himself over the years.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a><\/p>\n

Devoted to his family and a loving father, nothing speaks louder about Ali the man than his audio recordings of phone calls and conversations he made over the years with his children as we hear the playfulness and love as Ali sings the ABC\u2019s song with a daughter learning her alphabet or a \u201cserious discussion\u201d with a 3 year old Hana talk about popsicles or a young Maryum telling him,\u00a0 \u201cDaddy, I don\u2019t want you to fight anymore.\u00a0 You\u2019re old!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Designed by director Lewins so as to have the recordings of not only the Ali children but those Ali also made of his conversations with friends and confidantes serve as the connective tissue of the documentary, Ali himself is ever-present.\u00a0 We see the complexity of the man by just listening to his words, his conversations, his thoughts and grow more connected through the tonal inflections of his voice.<\/p>\n

Noticeable are absences or omissions of the rest of Ali\u2019s nine children (which Hana and Maryum told me was merely due to scheduling issues), his ex-wives other than Veronica Porsche (who is the one interview who, between tears and emotionally halting words, speaks briefly about Ali\u2019s debilitated state due to Parkinson\u2019s disease) or even mentions of very public and intense relationships with people like Howard Cosell who helped make Ali\u2019s career through broadcasting.<\/p>\n

But then there are insightful interviews with Muhammad Jr. who talks about the pressure of living up to being the son of \u201cThe Greatest\u201d, Mike Tyson recalling childhood events and a meeting with Ali that inspired him to become a fighter, ex-NFLer Jim Brown talking about the behind-the-scenes political fallout when Ali refused to go to Viet Nam and the need for Black leaders to understand his motivations to stave off uprisings, and one of my favorites, a heartwarming interview with Marvis Frazier who talks about the relationship between two of the greatest rivals in sports history both in and out of the ring – Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.<\/p>\n

Although there are neither present day photos nor interviews with the man himself included in the documentary, there is never a moment that you do not feel Ali\u2019s presence as he is omnipresent.\u00a0 His voice is the guiding hand.\u00a0 And at the end of the day, while Muhammad Ali is still \u201cthe greatest\u201d, it is his love for his children and their love for him that truly makes him great.<\/p>\n

Written and Directed by Clare Lewins
\nInterview subjects: Hana Ali, Maryum Ali, Muhammad\u00a0 Ali, Jr., Rahaman Ali, Gene Kilroy, Angelo Dundee, George Foreman, Marvis Fazier, Mike Tyson, Jim Brown, Sir Tom Jones<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Directed by British filmmaker Clare Lewins…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,9],"tags":[299,245,296,300,297,298],"class_list":["post-1970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-reviews","tag-boxing","tag-documentary","tag-i-am-ali","tag-joe-frazier","tag-movie-review","tag-muhammad-ali"],"yoast_head":"\nI AM ALI - Behind The Lens Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Behind the Lens is your home for in-depth movie reviews, filmmaker & celebrity interviews, and more, all by industry professional and film critic debbie lynn elias...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/reviews\/i-am-ali\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I AM ALI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Behind the Lens is your home for in-depth movie reviews, filmmaker & celebrity interviews, and more, all by industry professional and film critic debbie lynn elias...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/reviews\/i-am-ali\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Behind The Lens Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-13T02:09:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-10-13T05:14:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/I-Am-Ali-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"849\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"debbie lynn elias\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"debbie lynn elias\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/i-am-ali\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/i-am-ali\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"debbie lynn elias\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2d9b602095eb0ce3d363efb75ad0b5d4\"},\"headline\":\"I AM ALI\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-13T02:09:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-13T05:14:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/i-am-ali\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":603,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/i-am-ali\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/I-Am-Ali-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"boxing\",\"documentary\",\"I Am Ali\",\"Joe Frazier\",\"movie review\",\"Muhammad Ali\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Movies\",\"Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/i-am-ali\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/i-am-ali\\\/\",\"name\":\"I AM ALI - 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