Video Shelf
* New this week: A celebrated perfectionist, filmmaker Michael Mann is determined in “Ali” to tell the story of the heavyweight champion--who changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali and became the 20th century’s most celebrated athlete--with a phenomenal attention to detail. That very much includes the impressive Oscar-nominated performance of star Will Smith. The difficulty with the film is not that there aren’t good things about it but that there aren’t enough of them. Perhaps having a universally revered individual who is still very much alive as protagonist caused the filmmakers to unconsciously pull back from an examination that cuts deeper than this one does. Whatever the reason, the energy and hold-onto-your-seat excitement that Muhammad Ali brought to the sports world is oddly absent from this quite accomplished but finally distant film.
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Top 5 VHS rentals:
1. Domestic Disturbance
2. Spy Game
3. Black Knight
4. Serendipity
5. Training Day
Top 5 DVD rentals:
1. Domestic Disturbance
2. Spy Game
3. Black Knight
4. Bandits
5. Serendipity
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Rental video charts provided by VSDAVidTrac.
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