Phantom Punch

I've seen several movies about Muhammad Ali but I have forgotten everything I knew about Sonny Liston from those movies. Reading some of the IMDb comments tells me this movie might not be telling the whole story. In fact, the comments suggest this movie may be wrong about a lot of historical facts about a real person.

But forgetting all this, I thought this was quite a good movie. Ving Rhames gave an Oscar-worthy performance and made me believe there was more to Sonny Liston than the angry man the world believed he was. I actually didn't know anything about Liston, but once he became famous, it appeared the world hated him for defeating Floyd Patterson and being such a bad boy. But he really wasn't so bad, at least not here. Plenty of scenes show him as a gentle man trying to make a better life for himself. And as hard as mobsters try to get him to throw fights, he doesn't appear to want to.

True, he is shown getting violent because someone accuses Geraldine, a woman he genuinely loves, of being a mere hooker.

And he is unfaithful to Geraldine. But he really tries to make it up to her. And he doesn't hit her.

And Rhames doesn't give the only good performance. Stacey Dash shows intelligence and determination as the woman Liston loves. Rick Roberts is great as the prison priest who discovers Liston's tendency to get into fights could be used constructively. And the good father follows Liston's career on the outside as well, as he takes a regular church job. Nicholas Turturro does a great job as the man who seems to be in charge of Liston's career, but has to answer to higher authorities.

There is quite a lot of violence and threats of violence, and I don't mean just in the ring.

One very effective scene makes use of slow motion as well as sound editing (that's what I'll call it) that suggests Liston has been hit one too many times and things don't seem real.

Most of the music here is great, and why not? It was set in an era when music was music. Toward the end, rock and roll was taking over, and there are some signs of that here. But it's Vegas, baby! And Bridgette Wilson-Sampras is quite a singer. Very good-looking too. No wonder Liston was tempted.

The movie is not without its weaknesses. I never speculated on what was real and what wasn't, but Cassius Clay doesn't even look like Cassius Clay (though neither did Will Smith), and he hardly says a word. Clay was known for his mouth, and off in the distance we do get to hear "I am the greatest!". But Clay doesn't brag or use his colorful words. Not in this movie.

And I saw a 50-star flag. I've never seen a 48-star flag where the stars weren't in neat rows and columns, so that must be what I saw. It was still the 50s at the time.

Overall, this was a worthy effort. Unless you want to tell the truth.

I saw this movie, and wondered why it was not released in theatres. It is a quite good movie, that is very thought provoking especially, concerning the circumstance surrounding Sonny Liston's death. The actor named Ving Rhames does a very good job and is fantastic in it. It amazes me, and I do not understand why the other reviewers are so negative, but if you like boxing and are a boxing history fan, this is a must see..... I thoroughly enjoyed it... And if you're a boxing fan, you probably will too... PS - Robert Townsend is a fine talent as both an actor and director... So watch it and don't be fooled by any negative reviews... :)

Ving and Nicholas must have been hard up for a pay day. They couldn't save it because there was nothing to save and no doubt they both want this one kept quiet.. The fight scenes are some of the worst I've seen in a movie,let alone a boxing movie. Too much left out and all of a sudden he's fighting Ali,who does not even look remotely like the greatest. Mainstream movie which should stay on the shelf. It's a shame because the Sonny Liston story is worth making a movie about. Perhaps one day a real boxing fan will direct it with a decent budget. There are documentaries on Liston that are much more entertaining. I think the entire production lost track and they finally decided to quickly end it,either that or the money ran out. Save yourself the beating and the hour and a half you won't get back.

I loved it because it was about one of the Greatest Heavyweights Ever in Charles "Sonny" Liston. No, it's not "Casablanca" but it is time well spent for former fighters like myself and boxing fans. We love just about anything on The Bad Man and the movie is very stylishly shot with a sleek music score backing it. I have been to Liston's grave in Vegas and "Night Train" played in my head the entire time I was there. No monument, just a weathered headstone that you have to ask the folks inside how to find as it is difficult to locate. Watch this with an open mind and enjoy it, sports fans. While it may not be 100 percent accurate - it is fun for fans of The Big Bear. Troy Ross is a real fighter who plays Floyd Patterson but the guy that plays Ali is not. He is the only downside to this movie that I found as they should have gotten a real boxer to play him. Ving is not as big nor nearly as massive as Sonny was but then again, few men have been. One of the Great Hitters and most Mysterious Men in Boxing history.

If you want to see what the real Sonny was all about, watch HBO's documentary "Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion". Its brilliant!! This movie...well not so good. Ving Rhames is great as usual. Problem is he may be a tad old for the role, plus he didn't have much to work with here. A lot of what we know about Sonny was historically inaccurate or missing. No harassment from Ali(a young Cassius Clay) before, or after the Patterson rematch. Ali (Clay) made Liston's life hell for over a year before their first fight. No scene detailing Sonny slapping Ali's face in a casino. Not even a mention of his first fight against Marty Marshall. Liston suffered a broken jaw in the fourth round before losing a close 8-round decision. But you wouldn't know it from this film. Sonny was no choirboy nice-guy for sure. But he deserves better than Phantom Punch.