History Film / Ali

** His extremist views on race, religion and interracial marriage, and his association with the overtly racist and thuggish Nation of Islam, who manipulated him for their own ends.

** The movie implies that Malcolm X was murdered by the FBI. He was actually killed by members of the Nation of Islam.

* YourCheatingHeart: In Africa Ali starts stepping out on his second wife with the woman who became his third wife.

''Ali'' is a 2001 {{Biopic}} about the life of Wrestling/MuhammadAli. It chronicles Ali's life from the first Sonny Liston fight in 1964, through his opposition to the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar which resulted in a long legal fight with the U.S. government, through his 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" showdown fight with George Foreman. It was directed by Creator/MichaelMann and stars Creator/WillSmith as Ali.

''Ali'' is a 2001 {{Biopic}} about the life of MuhammadAli. It chronicles Ali's life from the first Sonny Liston fight in 1964, through his opposition to the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar which resulted in a long legal fight with the U.S. government, through his 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" showdown fight with George Foreman. It was directed by Creator/MichaelMann and stars Creator/WillSmith as Ali.

* DyeingForYourArt: Will Smith gained 35 pounds for this role.

** While training for the Fight of the Century with Joe Frazier, Ali learns from a telephone call with Howard Cosell that the Supreme Court has ruled in his favor on his refusal to be drafted into the army. In reality, the decision was not made until June 28, 1971, three months later. One reason the fight was staged before the ruling was the fear that Ali might lose the case and go to jail, thus derailing the fight.

** Ken Norton, one of Ali's great rivals who faced him in three epic bouts and handed him his second defeat, is downgraded to a minor role.

** His association with the overtly racist and thuggish Nation of Islam, who manipulated him for their own ends.
** The cruel, often racial, insults he directed at opponents, particularly Joe Frazier, whom he branded an "ugly, dumb gorilla" and an Uncle Tom, Floyd Patterson ("a white man's Negro") and George Foreman ("a white flag waving bitch").

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While training for the Fight of the Century with Joe Frazier, Ali learns from a telephone call with Howard Cosell that the Supreme Court has ruled in his favor on his refusal to be drafted into the army. In reality, the decision was not made until June 28, 1971, three months later. One reason the fight was staged before the ruling was the fear that Ali might lose the case and go to jail, thus derailing the fight. The poem Ali recites prior to the first Frazier fight ("Ali comes out to meet Frazier, Frazier starts to retreat...") was actually used prior to his 1964 bout with Sonny Liston. Ali's wife Belinda flies out to Zaire prior to the Foreman fight (The Rumble in the Jungle) to confront him about his affair with Veronica Porsche. In fact, this incident happened before the third fight with Frazier in Manila a year later.

''Ali'' is a 2001 {{Biopic}} about the life of MuhammadAli. It chronicles Ali's life from the first Sonny Liston fight in 1964, through his opposition to the VietnamWar which resulted in a long legal fight with the U.S. government, through his 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" showdown fight with George Foreman. It was directed by Creator/MichaelMann and stars Creator/WillSmith as Ali.

* MyNameIsNotDurwood / DoNotCallMePaul: At the weigh-in, Ernie Terrell calls Ali "Clay". The former Cassius Clay gets severely pissed at this, and in the subsequent fight delivers a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown while repeatedly shouting "What's my name?".

* MyNameIsNotDurwood: At the weigh-in, Ernie Terrell calls Ali "Clay". The former Cassius Clay gets severely pissed at this, and in the subsequent fight delivers a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown while repeatedly shouting "What's my name?".

* AMinorKidroduction: Albeit a brief one. In the opening montage, we see Ali as a boy on a bus in Louisville reading an article about the lynching of Emmitt Till.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Ali's relationships with Malcolm X and Howard Cosell are main themes.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: "I ain't got no quarrel with no Viet Cong." Ali's refusal to submit himself to the draft came with a great personal price.

* TrainingMontage: The opening sequence of Ali training for the Liston fight, intercut with a scene of Sam Cooke in concert and scenes from Ali's early life.

* BadassBoast: As in ReaLife, Ali is all about this.

''Ali'' is a 2001 {{Biopic}} about the life of MuhammadAli. It chronicles Ali's life from the first Sonny Liston fight in 1964, through his opposition to the VietnamWar which resulted in a long legal fight with the U.S. government, through his 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" showdown fight with GeorgeForeman. It was directed by Creator/MichaelMann and stars Creator/WillSmith as Ali.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: "I ain't got no quarrel with no Viet Cong." Ali's refusal to submit himself to the draft came with a great personal price.

* AMinorKidtroduction: Albeit a brief one. In the opening montage, we see Ali as a boy on a bus in Louisville reading an article about the lynching of Emmitt Till.