Ali is a 2001 American biographical sports drama film directed by Michael Mann. The film tells the story of the boxer Muhammad Ali, played by Will Smith, from 1964–74 featuring his capture of the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston, his conversion to Islam, criticism of the Vietnam War, banishment from boxing, his return to fight Joe Frazier in 1971, and, lastly, his reclaiming the title from George Foreman  in the Rumble in the Jungle fight of 1974. It also discusses the great social and political upheaval in the United States following the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson.