What's My Name: Muhammad Ali

It is hard to be balanced when it comes to Ali, he's either a flawed racist loudmouth who belittled his opponents or he's a self-marketing genius, strategist, humanitarian, rebel, champion of the poor who did what he did consciously and purposely in order to elevate himself and his people. The truth of course is somewhere in the middle. Quite frankly it's refreshing to know that Ali was all too human at times and prone to the odd slip up just like the next man, be that in his personal affairs or in the realm of boxing, where he certainly did cross the line more than a few times. But bearing in mind what he went through in such times of great social and political upheaval, it is not difficult to be able to overlook his flaws. This documentary does not take any particular angle on the Ali story, it shows most sides of him, not so much of his family life, which he probably managed to keep more off limits. What it does show is some great fight footage, interviews and rare archive material which I had never seen before, even though i have watched literally every documentary about the man. What is left to say? I mean he passed away but his legend does truly live large and strong, this is such an inspiring film, not so much the film, but the man, so unbelievably great, so inspiring, it is hard to imagine a human being who could be more uplifting, more intoxicating. He literally grabs you by the throat and dares you to get off your ass and do something with your life. A priceless genius, I loved watching this documentary and no doubt if i am ever having a bad week, i will come back to it. Ali is the greatest, period. Study his life and learn, that's all there is to do.

I have watched many and ANY documentary I can find on Muhammed Ali - including the obvious When We Were Kings. While that one is great, this is the DEFINITIVE movie of Ali. It is a flawless account of the greatest boxer of all time.

I don't want to spoil anything. You don't want to miss this! One of best docs I've ever seen. The film which Muhammed Ali deserved. Not a second wasted. Pure greatness! Go watch it now!

Great doc but I'll take two stars away for two MASSIVE omissions. One is Howard Cosell's iconic proclamation during the second Frazier fight of, "Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!", and secondly, the chant of Zaire children before the Foreman fight of "Ali, boma ye!!" (Ali, kill him!") which was also equally iconic. These two sayings are incomparable benchmarks during his legendary run. A pure icon. The truth.

One's enjoyment of "What's My Name" can, I think, be anticipated with a simple question: how much do you already know about Ali? If little, you'll love this. If much, you'll be entertained but likely not put it in the upper echelon of Ali docs.

I fall into the latter camp of that previous question, having read multiple books on Ali and pretty much seen all the relevant docs. When I saw the title of this HBO production, I thought that it would delve more into the social/political side of Ali, but instead it proved to be pretty much a straight bio of his career both inside and outside the boxing ring.

Because it is HBO at the wheel, the production value could not be higher and it does pull out some photos/videos I had never seen before. However, as a seasoned Ali scholar, I couldn't help but be slightly disappointed that "What's My Name" didn't "pick a lane, so to speak", and try to examine one issue of his life instead of tackling the whole ball of wax. Because I this, I have to rate 2009's "Facing Ali" and 2014's "I Am Ali" as better docs overall.

All of that being said, if this is perhaps the first Ali doc a viewer has ever watched, it will make quite an impression, as it does hit all the relevant points in his life and contains great music and interviews. It's long--nearly three hours--but never feels boring or slow.

So, ultimately, one's appreciation of "What's My Name" will almost certainly be determined by what they've seen of him before. Anyone can enjoy this, but Ali "scholars" may struggle with the lack of any new angle.