Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight

A worthy and earnest look at the Supreme Court decision on whether Ali's reasons in avoiding the draft were legally sound because of his religious beliefs.

The court did not want to create a precedent where everyone could claim to be a conscientious objector by claiming to be an islamic minister.

Director Stephen Frears wisely opts for archive footage of Ali to be used as the Supreme Court decides on the issue.

Set in the early 1970s, it is a time of great change in America. The judges in this drama talk about the thorny issue of abortion in Roe v Wade which is due to come up. They have to view pornography as that is another matter they need to ponder on.

Frank Langella plays Chief Justice Burger. A conservative appointee and a puppet of the Nixon presidency. They may be experienced lawyers but these people are political appointees. The judge who vacillates is Justice Harlan (Christopher Plummer) another conservative but more wily and nuanced. He senses that the times are changing and the Supreme Court might be in danger of being out of step.

The drama is framed by Frears through one of Harlan's clerks. Kevin Connolly (Benjamin Walker) who finds a precedent and brings it to Harlan's attention. Connolly is a plucky outsider in the Supreme Court where the other clerks are from top universities and do not want to make waves.

The surprise was Thurgood Marshall (Danny Glover) the Supreme Court's first black judge. He was against Ali because he viewed him as a segregationist.

It was a good drama but at times it felt flat footed. You sense why this was suited as a made for cable television production rather than as a cinema release. The fictional character of Connolly was just too determined like a good boy scout who believed in Ali's case. It was like those legal dramas, where the one person believes the accused is innocent and will bang heads to get others to their way of thinking.

The filmmaking (or rather, videomaking) by Stephen Frears is not particularly noteworthy, nor are some of the secondary performances. Still, the film allows one a rather fascinating peek at various forces (personal and cultural) influencing the Supreme Courts decision with regard to the legality of Mohammed Ali's refusal to serve in the U.S. army. As noted elsewhere, the segments involving the competition between interns are very much a distraction. Only one of the interns is of any narrative importance and his thread could easily have been played out in scenes between him and Judge Harlan (Christopher Plummer). In short, view this for the history, rather than the art.

I was perusing On Demand yesterday and came across this movie that was made for HBO. My wife and I decided to watch it over lunch and it was one of those movies that was way better than we could have imagined because there was zero hype of this movie. We knew nothing about it, not even the outcome of the decision by the Supreme Court. We had totally forgotten about that case and its impact on Muhammad Ali and his rise to iconic status in American history. After the movie was over I looked up Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan II and found that by Hollywood standards the movie was pretty factual. It was heartbreaking in places. Christopher Plummer does a great job as a conservative judge with a love of the law, and a love of the clerks who worked for him. Frank Langella was also good as Warren Burger who was the politician on the court and took daily phone calls from Richard Nixon. I was surprised by the less than sympathetic portrait of Thurgood Marshall. He comes across as knowing the law but somewhat of a slacker. The movie rightfully so sticks to archival footage of Ali and that alone is almost enough justification to watch this movie. He was far more than just a great heavyweight boxing champion. He represented the changes going on in America. The only weak point in the movie is the interplay between the Supreme Court clerks. It was the least interesting part of the movie. Plummer and Langella make this movie. They are perfect in their roles. If you like real life legal drama, this is a movie worth seeing. Nice to have movies that exceed one's expectations.

This movie took me back to those years, now long gone, when the passions of the 1960's and early 70's were unleashed. Change was in the air and the forces of the status quo were pushing back. This movie is about the Supreme Court, liberal and some conservative, who divide over a pivotal issue: Muhammed Ali's right to refuse military service in the Vietnam War, when conscription was still the rule. I remember the Supreme Court becoming a lightning rod during the presidency of Richard Nixon, when two of his appointees were repudiated by the Senate. I also remember the lengthy hiatus of Muhammed Ali from the ring. This movie brings it all back and is enlivened by the newsreels of Muhammed Ali, a formidable figure in and out of the ring; President Richard Nixon, one of the most controversial presidents of all time; and the youth who were standing up to the established order. In the movie, the fight was on a court divided between the left and right, with a Chief Justice who wanted to avoid a difficult decision. The court appears to be made up of rather elderly men who are not inclined to take risks. I don't know how historically accurate this image is but the Supreme Court is shown as an old boys club, not a group of serious jurists who form a third branch of government. It was made up of all men with only one black, Thurgood Marshall. I found it hard to watch the depiction of Judge Hugo Black as someone seemingly in the throes of senility. I believe in his day he was a great Justice. Frank Langella plays a rather staid, unimaginative and out of touch Chief Justice named Warren Burger, the man who succeeded the great Earl Warren. Christopher Plummer plays Justice John Harlan, a southern conservative who has a passion for the law. He hires a young man who advises him to rule in favour of Ali and his conscientious objector status, following the precedent set in 1955 for the Jehovah's Witnesses. The movie makes the liberal wing look far more sympathetic than their conservative counterparts, who sense no need for the court to rule on the case. But the Justices were capable of following a leader like John Harlan, who showed leadership by ruling on the basis of legal precedent and breaking rank with his boss who wanted a Court that would follow his orders. British Director Stephen Frears shows the Supreme Court as a branch of government that was able to move out of its own comfort zone, deciding in accord with its conscience and legal precedent.

The movie was very accurate to the actual story. The use of actual footage from interviews with Ali was very informative and made the movie more creditable. Because the movie was based on the U.S. Supreme Court Justices, there was no need to actually cast someone to play Muhammad Ali and because of this the movie was far better. Because I was just a teenager when the events of this movie actually played out, there is information in the movie that I wasn't aware of, such as Justice John Marshall Harlan II's fight with cancer. The movie is really a must see for anyone who grew up watching the Ali, Forman and Frazier fights of the time. They were the main reasons boxing was so popular in the 70's.