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The various iterations of The Dick Cavett Show, especially the late-night ABC show which ran from 1969-1975, have been a deep resource for Cavett and director Robert Bader to look back on some of the serious issues that riled the country in the late 60s and early 70s. First they collaborated on how the shows often influential guests and intellectual discourse contributed to the discussion surrounding the Vietnam War, then they did another documentary about the shows extensive coverage of Watergate. Now, the two of them examine the unlikely friendship between Cavett and one of his most frequent guests: boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

The Gist: Ali was on Cavetts show over a dozen times between 1969 and his last fight in 1981. When he first appeared in 69, he was in the middle of a period where his heavyweight championship was stripped from him and he was threatened with prison over his refusal to enter the military draft. The first third of Ali & Cavett: The Tale Of The Tapes goes over the steps that led the former Cassius Clay to that point, from his association with the Nation of Islam, and how Elijah Mohammed and Malcolm X both tried to get Ali to align with eachs faction within NOI. Through interviews with Al Sharpton, Juan Williams, Larry Merchant and others and of course, Cavett we go in-depth into Alis state of mind then, who was influencing him, and how Cavett shockingly thought that the champ, who he had already established a strong rapport with, was using his nimble verbal skills to ramble on about someone elses agenda.

But once Alis boxing license was restored by the New York Supreme Court in 1970 (he was still appealing his federal conviction, which wouldnt be cleared until a year later), Alis appearances on Cavetts show were more of a balance of boxing talk and talk about the always touchy racial issues on which Ali had strong opinions. We see clips of Ali talking about all sorts of stuff, not the least of which trash talking his biggest rival, Joe Frazier. We even see the infamous appearance before the first Ali-Frazier fight where the two of them almost come to blows, then gang up on Cavett and lift him out of his chair.

From Alis comeback, where he regained the heavyweight crown after defeating a young, stronger George Foreman, the show takes a turn. We see light moments, like Cavett at Alis woodland training camp in Pennsylvania, to darker moments, like after Ali lost the title to Leon Spinks in 1978. Cavett and the other experts all wonder if his later fights, and the fact that he got hit harder during those than during his younger days, is what led to the Parkinsons syndrome that eventually led to his death in 2016.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The film covers a lot of the same ground as 2019s HBO doc Whats My Name: Muhammad Ali, though it does concentrate more on the years 1964-1981. Theres definitely more of an examination on his relationships with Elijah Mohammed, Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan and others in the Nation of Islam. Its likely because Cavett challenged him on the racial diatribes Ali often went on in those years, as well as let him talk about why he objected to going to Vietnam.

Performance Worth Watching: Alis life is fascinating to us, and its always fascinating to show how he transformed from the young Ali fast-talking, witty, unafraid to speak his mind, but considered by much of white America to be dangerous and subversive to the thirty-something Ali, who had slowed down but was still witty and, more importantly, a pop culture icon.

Memorable Dialogue: Sometimes he almost seemed like a brother to me, says Cavett, who once wrote that at times he considered Ali his best friend.

Our Take: What surprised me the most about Ali & Cavett: The Tale Of The Tapes is that the first third of the film has very little Cavett in it. For a film that is promoting itself as looking at Alis career through his appearances on Cavetts various shows, it felt like a curious choice that we would be going over the period of time before Cavetts show started in such depth (they did meet when Cavett was a writer for The Jerry Lewis Show in the mid-60s, but their friendship started in earnest when Ali started going on the shows Cavett hosted).

In this case, an e-mail response from Bader, after I interviewed Cavett, brought some light to the choice: I felt the audience would be confused without the background on Alis early interest and involvement with the Nation of Islam if my story began with his first Cavett interviews. So many of the critical events in Alis story occurred just before Dick got his show. But Ali was appearing on those early Cavett shows in response to the public reaction to many of those earlier events.

Once that part kicked in, it was fascinating to watch, especially as we see Alis icon status kick into high gear after the first Frazier fight. It was also fascinating to see those first signs that Ali might have stayed in the ring too long, even after he captured the heavyweight crown for the third time in the Spinks rematch. And what was the most fascinating was the stories Cavett told about the time Ali stayed over his house in Montauk, and the overall picture of how the two of them bonded to where they became more than just host and guest.

Our Call: STREAM IT. While we think Ali & Cavett: The Tale Of The Tapes could have given the context behind Alis first Cavett appearances a little quicker, its still a wonderful look at an unlikely friendship and a bit of insight into Alis mindset in the second stage of his boxing career.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesnt kid himself: hes a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company.com, RollingStone.com, Billboard and elsewhere.

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Stream It Or Skip It: 'Ali & Cavett: The Tale Of The Tapes' On HBO, A Documentary About Muhammed Ali Told Through His Talks With Dick Cavett -...