Will Smith on Oprah- "Ali" in theaters December 25th

AKA2D '91 · #1 11-26-2001, 05:14 PM

for those interested, he's on now discussing his role as Ali. Jada will be on the show later.

FYI

AKA2D '91 · #2 11-26-2001, 07:55 PM

HC Jada says she is playing in the Matrix 2 and 3?

Had we mentioned that before? Did we know?

CrimsonTide4 · #3 11-26-2001, 08:03 PM

Yeah I remember hearing that it would be Aaliyah and Jada as the brown representation.

AKAtude · #4 11-26-2001, 08:48 PM

I heard the same thing, too.

CkretCrush8 · #5 12-19-2001, 06:05 PM

OOPS! I didn't know that this was already a thread nor did I know this was a re-run. I just saw it today. I liked today's show.

I think it's good that they have a trusting and open relationship that Jada lets him talk about women who he finds attractive. I think I'll be like that with my husband. It's good for the soul.

brainzandbeauty · #6 12-22-2001, 05:09 PM

Happy Holidays to everyone!

I caught Will's interview on BET.... did any of you? I must say that his comment that he never knew there were very beautiful women in Africa

caught me off guard.

He spoke passionately about the inner transformations he experienced through his role as Ali.... but I laughed hysterically when Ed Gordon mentioned that Will is getting set Men In Black II.
(It seems a bit hard to go from playing The Greatest to playing, well, you know, an Alien FBI agent)

We all know that he loves Jada... is there anyone on the planet that is not aware that she is his wife? I'm all for black men being open about love and marriage, but damn... sometimes it seems like Jada-plugging has become standard. She does have her own career.... she is not sitting on top of thousands of (unopened, unpurchased) "Woo" videos crying for more movie roles. When is the last time Will has joined Jada on one of her interviews?

My opinions aside, I do plan to see "Ali" principally to support them.

What did you think of the interview?

novella000 · #7 12-23-2001, 12:12 PM

I hate to be a party pooper... But I do not think ALI will do very well after it's first week's run. Will, God love him, is just not convincing in serious roles. I am going to see the movie, but only to support he and Jada.

I saw that movie, ummmm, what's the name?? Oh yeah, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Should have been The Legend of Rotten Acting... I was pleased with the rest of the cast, but somehow, Will DID NOT cut the cake. Now he was decent in that movie he was in with Martin, Bad Boys. But to be fair, that's the same kind of Men in Black type stuff. He could be in character in those movies, because that's how he really acts.
Jamie Foxx is in Ali as well, and I look forward to his role. Jamie's acting isn't TOP NOTCH, just yet, but he's convincing in the roles he plays. I could even see him in a serious role like ALI down the line because he steps out of his normal comedic self very well.

In Will's favor, he LOOKS a lot like Muhammed... But he sounds ridiculous in some of the clips (not all of them) imitating Ali, and I find myself giggling at the trailer.

SweetestDiva · #8 12-26-2001, 05:12 AM

I saw the movie last night and I liked it. I agree with Novella... watching the commercials, I was skeptical because of the way Will was talking. Y'all know that scene I'm talking about:

Will: "I can hit ya six times before you count to three."
Random boy: 1....2....3
Will: "Did I hurt ya?"

I always cringed at that, but amazingly I don't remember that scene even being in the movie. Now, I'm no expert on how Muhammed Ali really sounds, but there were some points where I was CTHU at Will's character voice. He was good overall though, and the rest of the cast was... dare I say, almost exceptional? Jamie Foxx was hilarious to me, as usual. I thought the end left a little to be desired, but I'll wait until more of y'all reply to discuss it.

JJSP01 · #9 12-26-2001, 03:11 PM

I saw Will's interview with Regis (I think it was that show) and he talked about how hard it was for him to "learn" and "master" Ali's speech. Since Ali's from Tennessee, he's not deep south, but not a northerner either, just really COUNTRY (as Will put it).

Also, Will said that since his ears stick out, they had to use prosthetics for his ears to help make him look more like Ali and less like Will Smith.

Some critics say it doesn't really have a plot....just shows random clips of Ali's life...for those that have seen it, do you think that's the case?

I want to see movie, just to see if it lives up to the hype...I've always been an Ali fan.

Happydaysf91 · #10 12-26-2001, 03:46 PM

According to several family members in different parts of the country that saw the movie yesterday, they said it wasn't all that (the movie). Two of them went as far as to say I should just wait on the video....let me hear what you all think!

Personally, I was going to go see it anyway this weekend -- given the fact that the 1st week of a movie is very important -- I also wanted to show my support for these fine AA actors/actresses.

Peace!

nikki25 · #11 12-26-2001, 06:32 PM

I saw Will on BET. I thought that Will presented the movie well, and was just being very real about his transformation in self and in thinking. I think that his candor about Africa and Ali was typical of someone not fully informed--but who came to be over time. I'm still having trouble with Ed Gordon's interviewing style, as there were some answers that Will gave that TRULY deserved some more probing, and as usual, Ed fell short. Dog, I miss Tavis' style of intensive interviewing.

At any rate, I'm going to see the movie this evening, and will post my comments tomorrow. I've been looking very forward to the movie since October.

intheknow · #12 12-27-2001, 03:51 AM

I saw it last night . . . one word . . . BOO!! It was too long and absolutely plotless as another post mentioned. Don't even rent the video . . it's just not worth it.

mccoyred · #13 12-27-2001, 03:38 PM

I saw the movie last night. It was too long and had too many scenes that could have been left on the cutting room floor (ie spend 10 minutes showing Ali jogging up the street, huh?).

In contrast there was nothing about his earlier life as most autobiographies tend to have. The movie did not answer a number of questions about his life before or after boxing.

As far as acting, Will did a credible job, Jada looked like a tart and a ho (was her real life character really like that?) and Jamie Fox could have stayed home. Mario van Peebles SUCKED as Malcolm.

I was also kind of lost because I did not recognize many of the players/characters in Ali's life.

nikki25 · #14 12-27-2001, 06:47 PM

As promised, here I am to provide my review of the movie, Ali starring Will Smith as Mohammed Ali. I saw the movie on yesterday evening.

I thought that the movie was good. It provided some details about Muhammad Ali's family background and helped the audience to see the complexity of Mohammed Ali's character. This was done by helping us see Ali's movement toward Islam, the way it impacted his thinking and work, and the flip side of persons in the organization. We also saw Ali's strength of character as he stood by and defended persons in his inner circle. I give the movie 3 out of 5 stars, however, because it didn't fully tell the tale of his life, but covered key events of his career. The ending seems rather abrupt. You really don't get a full sense of Ali's being...but got an understanding of some things driving the person that he has been. And, in a sense, I understand the rationale..it is an attempt to get at what matters without idealizing nor diminishing that which Ali has been.

I recommend seeing the movie in the theatres. The boxing scenes in this movie are just spectacular. And, unless you have a big screen TV with a DVD player and surround sound, you will simply miss the excitement of it.

The actors/actresses were excellent. I thought Will did a good job. I didn't see Will after a while...and if you've seen Six Degrees of Separation, then you know that Smith is capable of escaping his Fresh Prince persona. I totally believed him as Ali. Jada was good, although the "firecracker" nature of her character wasn't too far of a stretch from other characters she has played. Nona Gaye, for me, stole the show. She totally possessed her character and I was blown away. Jamie Foxx...how can you hate him? I do think that he played his role well...but the comedy wasn't a stretch for him. I think Jamie can do more and perhaps he will be given more opportunities. Did anyone see this guy in Any Given Sunday? He was brilliant.

At any rate, the movie was good, just brace yourself at the end.