Directed by: Stephen Frears
Starring: Christopher Plummer, Frank Langella, Benjamin Walker, Barry Levinson, Ed Begley Jr, Danny Glover
Muhammad Ali's refusal to be drafted into the US Army during the Vietnam War defines him as much as his legendary boxing career and legendary mouth. He refused on religious grounds and declared himself as a conscientious objector, which was a new idea at the time. His stance was unpopular at first and he was stripped of his heavyweight title, but as the Vietnam War rolled on he became a hero to the anti-war movement. He was sentenced to 5 years in jail, but his case was appealed to the US Supreme Court. This is where Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight comes in, although Ali is only seen in archive footage and the closest thing to a fight involves two Supreme Court Justice clerks.
The movie never cranks up the dramatic juice considering the high-profile nature of the case and the increasing discontent with the war that surrounded it. The acting is solid to be sure, with veterans like Plummer and Langella leading the way. There is buildup but little payoff. The justices arrive at their verdict mostly through political wrangling amongst each other than a surefire belief in the case's merits. Justice John Harlan (Plummer) at first is opposed to overturning Ali's conviction, but is swayed by the arguments of his clerk Kevin Connolly (Walker) and reverses his decision. Maybe this happened or maybe it didn't, but it seems more like a typical plot device in which the liberal younger man is able to open the eyes of the older, crotchety one.
As the justices are introduced, they are seen more as eccentrics than a group of justices with the huge responsibility of running the most powerful court in the land. Thurgood Marshall (Glover) is late to meetings because he doesn't want to miss his favorite soap opera. Chief Justice Warren Burger (Langella) is more interested in redesigning his office and the courtoom than his caseload. Justice Harry Blackmon (Begley) is seen as Burger's lapdog, until a crucial scene in which he ultimately makes a decision which doesn't side with Burger's. And so on, and so forth. Only Justice Harlan is seen as a well-rounded person who insists that his clerks go home early on Fridays to be with their families. He is also battling his own health issues as is his wife, who is suffering from dementia.
The Supreme Court must have been a fun place to work once upon a time. The clerks play basketball whenever they want, run and scream like a wild mob down the halls (playing football I guess), and don't appear to be doing a whole lot of work. They are not developed enough as individuals to care about them. There's a Jewish clerk, a liberal one, and a snobbish one from Harvard whose function is to give the others a hard time. Maybe writing those long, arduous opinions for the justices is more taxing than I realize and they need to goof off to let off some steam.
Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight never gains any real traction. The meetings between the justices don't unfold with any dramatic tension. We see the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision when Ali is shown knocking out George Foreman and regaining the heavyweight title in 1975. There is no epilogue reflecting on the case's effect on the anti-war movement or even mention of the war dragging on for another four years as the nation remained divided. The overall impression I had was this: Wasn't it nice of the court to keep Ali out of jail so he could regain the title that was stripped from him? I would have to think there were more reprecussions, but they aren't shown or even thought about.
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