A so-so TV movie based on the Supreme Court trial of whether or not to uphold the conviction of Muhammad Ali for not going to Vietnam when drafted. Ali said he was a conscientious objector because of his beliefs as a member of the Nation of Islam, and the government said that didn’t cut it.
If it all sounds a little dry, it certainly is. Frank Langella plays the conservative chief justice of the court as a dusty old fart with last century views, and Christopher Plummer plays a conservative justice who’s just a little less dusty and old-fashioned. Then there’s Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter himself) as a clerk for Plummer encouraging him to be less dusty and old-fashioned. Riveting stuff? Not really, and especially when juxtaposed against old interview footage of Ali, who comes across as a human live-wire and a bit of a novelty act (at one point, he goes on the Ed Sullivan Show as a “slave” wearing a bushy beard and afro).
However, the film excels at showing the way the sausage gets made in terms of Supreme Court decisions. I think this film probably comes closest to showing the exact way the Supreme Court works, how they consider which cases to hear, how they decide which ones to overturn, and how they write their opinions. It’s the details that saves this movie from being mediocre. Grade: B