'I Am Ali' has its moments but mostly drags on

Clare Lewins' dizzyingly disjointed documentary, I Am Ali, has one thing going for it: its subject, boxing immortal Muhammad Ali.

The champ is habitually transfixing on screen, going back to the film's earliest footage, as an 18-year-old gold medalist named Cassius Clay at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

But all too often, he is heard and not seen. The film's curious selling point is a vault of audio recordings. Apparently, Ali recorded his phone calls, convinced they would capture history.

Judging by the banal conversations, he needn't have bothered. Unless you have an insatiable appetite for goo-goo father-daughter talks, the recordings are tedious.

Lewins also conducted on-camera interviews with many people who knew Ali in his prime, including trainer Angelo Dundee, British sportswriter Ken Jones, NFL great Jim Brown, Welsh singer Tom Jones, and Ali's ex-wife, Veronica.

There are some golden moments - for instance, the insights of Joe Frazier's son, Marvis, into the complex rivalry between his father and Ali. But Lewins seems to stumble onto the gems without recognizing their worth.

The period sound track is fetching, albeit sporadic, including such artists as Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, the Emotions, even Barry McGuire. You also get to hear Ali sing the Mamas & the Papas ("Dedicated to the One I Love") to his daughter Hana on one of the phone recordings.

The ring action almost makes I Am Ali worth the price of admission. You see him toying with Floyd Patterson in 1965, dancing circles around Henry Cooper in 1966, pulling out an improbable win over George Foreman in 1975.

There's also some marvelous footage of Ali training and relaxing at his beloved rustic compound in Deer Lake, Schuylkill County.

I Am Ali has some splendid moments, but Lewins buries them beneath dull dross. She compounds her tenuous grasp of the material with the classic boxer's mistake: not knowing when to quit.

Directed by Clare Lewins. With Maryum Ali, Hana Ali, Rahman Ali, Jim Brown, Marvis Frazier. Distributed by Focus World.

Running time: 1 hour, 51 mins.

Parent's guide: PG.

Playing at: PFS at the Roxy, AMC Neshaminy, and On Demand.EndText

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