''Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight'' is a 2013 American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

about boxer

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...

's refusal to report for induction into the United States military during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, focusing on how the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

decided to rule in Ali's favor in the 1971 case of '' Clay v. United States''. The film was directed by

Stephen Frears Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...

, from a screenplay written by Shawn Slovo based on the 2000 book ''Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight: Cassius Clay vs. the United States of America'' by

Howard Bingham Howard Leonid Bingham (May 29, 1939December 15, 2016) was a biographer of Muhammad Ali and a professional photographer.Deford, FranYou don't know Muhammad Ali until you know his best friend''Sports Illustrated''. March 11, 2016 Bingham was born in ...

and

Max Wallace Max Wallace is a New York Times-bestselling author and historian specializing in the Holocaust, human rights in sport, and popular culture. He is also an award-winning filmmaker, and long-time disability advocate. Literary works In the Name ...

. It premiered on HBO on October 5, 2013.

Cast

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, inc ...

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

John Marshall Harlan II * Frank Langella as Chief Justice Warren E. Burger *

Ed Begley Jr. Edward James Begley Jr. (born September 16, 1949) is an American actor and environmental activist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He played Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the television series ''St. E ...

as Justice

Harry Blackmun Harry Andrew Blackmun (November 12, 1908 – March 4, 1999) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1994. Appointed by Republican President Richard Nixon, Blac ...

* Peter Gerety as Justice William J. Brennan Jr. * Barry Levinson as Justice Potter Stewart * John Bedford Lloyd as Justice Byron White * Fritz Weaver as Justice Hugo Black (Weaver was himself a conscientious objector during World War II) * Harris Yulin as Justice William O. Douglas *

Danny Glover Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the '' Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films inclu ...

as Justice

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African- ...

* Benjamin Walker as Kevin Connolly * Pablo Schreiber as Covert Becker *Ben Steinfeld as Sam Edelstein * Dana Ivey as Mrs. Paige * Kathleen Chalfant as Ethel Harlan *Lisa Joyce as Donna Connolly * Peter McRobbie as Erwin Griswold * Damian Young as Ramsey Clark * Chuck Cooper as Chauncey Eskridge * Bob Balaban as Lawyer * Drew Gehling as Marshall's Clerk

Reception

The film has a rating of 38% in

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

. Hank Stuever of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' commented that the film, focused as it was on the behind-the-scenes legal discussion of the Supreme Court's justices and law clerks, and depicting one of Harlan's law clerks (a character that was "a fictional composite of several clerks") as playing a central role in the court's decision to free Ali, was at times "too much like a substandard episode of ''

The Paper Chase The Paper Chase (stylized as "the pAper chAse") was an American alternative rock band formed in 1998 by producer/engineer John Congleton in Dallas, Texas, who were signed to Kill Rock Stars and Southern Records. Their albums ''God Bless Your Blac ...

''" and "more

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read ref ...

entry than story, as characters speak to one another in long paragraphs of legal exposition". ''The Post'' did have positive comments about the lead performances of Langella and Plummer. Christopher Howse of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' said the film "was worth watching in the comfort of the home, but if it had been shown in a cinema, it would hardly have been worth stirring from the fireside for."Christopher Howse
"Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, Sky Atlantic, review"
''

'', October 29, 2013. Mary McNamara of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' also commented on the excellent performances of the cast, while concluding that " e legal wrangling of eight old white men behind closed doors simply pales in comparison" to Ali's part of the story.Mary McNamara
"TV review: 'Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight' stays out of the ring"
''

'', October 5, 2013. Ali is not portrayed by an actor in the film, but instead Frears made repeated use of actual television news clips of Ali boxing, giving interviews, and performing. These clips of the actual Ali are mentioned in multiple reviews as among the best elements of the film.

References

External links

* * {{Stephen Frears 2013 television films 2013 films 2010s legal films American legal films American courtroom films Films scored by George Fenton Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Stephen Frears HBO Films films Films about Muhammad Ali Television courtroom dramas 2010s American films

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links