In HBO's new two-part documentary about Muhammad Ali, director Antoine Fuqua "expertly weaves the tale of Ali’s career as a fighter and his emergence as a force for social awareness and change," according to Richard Roeper of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. "What's My Name," which premieres tonight at 8:00pm ET, uses "archival footage and interviews" to make Ali the film's "tour guide through his life and times." Ali’s life in and out of the ring was "so rich with meaning and left such a footprint on the cultural landscape of not only the United States but the world, even a 165-minute documentary" leaves viewers "wanting more" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 5/11). In Raleigh, Brooke Cain writes "What's My Name" paints an "intimate portrait of the man who would become a beacon of hope for oppressed people around the world" (NEWSOBSERVER.com, 5/14). In Phoenix, Greg Moore wrote some omissions in the doc are "glaring, but they don’t reduce the film to a work of fiction." Rather, it "seems clear that Fuqua was using documentary footage, quotes and news reports to show viewers what Ali might have looked like in his day" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 5/10).
IN HIS OWN WORDS: RING TV's Michael Woods wrote viewers' time "will be well spent" if they watch "What's Your Name." The film works because viewers "see footage of Ali, in action, in the ring and hear his voice, mostly his voice, talking about the images" on screen. This is, "by and large, about Ali, in the words of Ali and that’s the right call" (RINGTV.com, 5/13). In Pittsburgh, Maria Sciullo wrote what "sets 'What’s My Name' apart is the narration by Ali himself." A "huge inventory of film, TV and audio clips -- Fuqua said they had more than 1,000 hours worth in the editing bay alone -- made it possible for the director to select narration in the man’s own words." It is an "effective device." Each of the two episodes "runs about 80 minutes and never feels overly long" (POST-GAZETTE.com, 5/19). On Long Island, Neil Best noted the doc "included not a single interview with current-day talking heads." It is "just Ali, and some of his contemporaries, talking and talking, with plenty of vintage boxing footage mixed in" (NEWSDAY, 5/7). In L.A., Tom Hoffarth wrote the essence of the film is a "well-spliced self-narration, culled from a dearth of audio and video interviews" that Ali did over his 74 years (L.A. TIMES, 5/13).
