The Greatest is a new scripted series on Prime Video that examines the life and career of Muhammad Ali in the years between 1960, when he won a gold medal at the Rome Olympic games, to 1964, when the 22-year-old won the heavyweight title after defeating Sonny Liston.
Opening Shot: “ROME, 1960.” A group of American Olympians, including Cassius Clay (Jaalen Best), take a tour of the Colosseum.
The Gist: Cassius Clay is on his way to getting a gold medal in the Olympic heavyweight boxing tournament in Rome, and when he wins, the 18-year-old returns triumphantly to his hometown of Louisville, KY. His younger brother Rudy (Kai Parham) tells Cassius that his win might make him believe in God again. His father, Cassius Clay Sr. (Omari Hardwick) is mainly concerned with making sure that his son goes pro and aligns himself with a manager who has his best interests in mind.
“Cash,” as his father is known, tries to keep up a strong front, but the sign painter is bitter over the racism and loss of opportunities he’s faced. He cheats on Cassius’ mother Odessa “Bird” Clay (Dana Gourrier) and hits her after she chastises him for missing his son’s parade through the city to booze it up at his usual watering hole.
Cassius Jr. is under a false impression that the gold medal, which he wears around his neck at all times, means that everyone in the city loves him, but is reminded that he’s in the Jim Crow south when he’s booted out of a whites-only diner that serves a “Gold Medal Burger” created in honor of his triumph.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Created by Ben Watkins (Cross), The Greatest has a similar vibe to Mike, another boxing-related biographical series.
Our Take: The Greatest tells Muhammad Ali’s story from that triumph at the Rome Olympics all the way through his first title bout with Sonny Liston in 1964. A whole lot happens during that time, including Ali connecting with trainer Angelo Dundee (Giovanni Ribisi) and his conversion to Islam via his association with Elijah Muhammad (Hill Harper) and the Nation of Islam. Watkins tries to keep Ali’s rise within the perspective of the civil rights movement, and doesn’t try to sugarcoat the difficulties Ali had to face as a young pro. But, like with most biographical series, things get simplified and dramatized to the point where the story lacks teeth.
Take, for instance, a scene in the first episode where a disillusioned Cassius Clay tosses his gold medal into the Ohio River after being denied service at that diner. The incident has been disputed, and even Ali’s accounts of the incident changed throughout his life. But given that this is a dramatic retelling of Ali’s early career, the scene fits perfectly within the narrative Watkins is trying to lay out.
That is just one example of the show’s lack of nuance, and we get the feeling that we may see more of that as Ali fights his way up the ladder, trains with Dundee, and breaks his mother’s heart with his religious conversion.
Performance Worth Watching: Jaalen Best does a good job of showing the burgeoning showman in the young Clay without descending into an impression.
Parting Shot: A radio report about Clay turning pro plays as we see him walk off the bridge from which he tossed his gold medal.
Our Call: STREAM IT. We’re marginally recommending The Greatest because we enjoyed the performances by Best, Hardwick and Gourrier. But Muhammad Ali’s highly complex history feels a bit simplified by this narrative, even as it tries to show the forces that he had to overcome to be The Greatest.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
