Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight

1967. Muhammad Ali is drafted and refuses to go, declaring himself a conscientious objector. His title is taken, his licence to box is revoked, he is sentenced to prison. The case goes all the way to the Supreme Court. That is where the film sits: eight justices and their young clerks. Most of the justices do not like Ali and mean to decide against him. Then one clerk reads the file again and finds a crack in the reasoning. In 1971 the decision comes down unanimously in Ali's favour. Stephen Frears directs the television film; ninety-seven minutes, with Christopher Plummer and Frank Langella, from a script by Shawn Slovo. It shows the chambers rather than the ring, telling Ali's case with barely any Ali in it.