Documentary Film Shows the Real Laila Ali

Before Laila Ali became a dancing sensation on network television, she was considered the best female boxer in the world. Although she has seemingly stepped away from boxing to start a family with husband Curtis Conway, there is no doubt that Laila Ali could still step into a ring and whip any other female boxer stupid enough to try and fight her.

She's that good. But, as good as she is as a boxer, or ball-room dancer, the most impressive thing about Laila Ali, well, is who she is as a person. Although that sounds like a cliché, one only needs to watch the documentary film, Daddy's Girl, to realize that Laila Ali is one of America's most genuine athletes.

Daddy's Girl is directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood whose past credits include scripting Get on the Bus, Spike Lee's now seminal ode to the Million Man March. Daddy's Girl documents Laila's attempt, and the attempts of her former manager, Damon Bingham, to pull off a fight in South Africa. It's not an easy task, and the difficulty that Laila and Damon face in getting the fight done is perfect for Blythewood's understated style.

Bythewood does something rare in documentary filmmaking. He actually documents someone without proselytizing. He's not afraid to show who Laila really is. Besides having the brashness she needs in order to step into a ring and beat someone up, she also clearly understands who she is in the world. She's a deep thinker who isn't afraid to admit past mistakes and say what she feels and thinks and for any person to do that, in particular an athlete in America, is very impressive.

Bythewood expertly shows Laila's greatest gift, the ability to see any human being, whether it is her father, or Winnie or Nelson Mandela, as single human beings, apart from the symbols the rest of the world associates them with. Her father isn't just a symbol of the Civil Right's moment, he's also a father, and, to Laila, he probably wasn't that great of a father. That's the kind of honesty that you won't find in most of America's athletes. Honesty that sets Laila apart from almost all of her contemporaries in American sports.

That's not all, of course. Bythewood has a knack for humanizing everybody. Cassius Green, Laila's famously sailor-capped cut man, has numerous one on ones with the camera, explaining among other things the differences between the way Laila approaches a fight and the way her father approached a fight. Every shot of Damon Bingham displays the most basic of human emotions. At one point Bingham is elated. At another point, he's worried. Then, at one other point, he's just trying to walk down a hall. There's nothing fake about Bingham at all and Bythewood does a terrific job showing that.

The only knock in regards to this documentary is that it was shown on TV One. No offense to TV One, but something this good desperately deserves a wider audience. Let's hope that it finds that wider audience.