By Gilberto Campa
On February 25th, 1964 at the Historic Hampton House (Motel & Villas) located in the heart of Miami, FL (just outside of Liberty City), four men who were truly larger than life (in their respective fields) had a meeting that went on to change each one of them profoundly. That is the story of “One Night In Miami” which is adapted from the stage play of the same name that tells a fictional account of the conversations that occurred during that important night. The four men that are at the center of the story include the newly crowned Heavyweight Champion of the World, Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali, The King of Soul himself Sam Cooke, The Muslim minister and Human Rights Activist Malcolm X, and arguably the most important player in the history of the NFL, activist, and actor Jim Brown.
The film is directed by the incredibly talented Regina King who over the last 30 years has cemented herself as one of the hardest working actors in the industry. Her work in film & television speaks for itself (Ray, Friday, Poetic Justice, Boyz N Da Hood, Enemy of The State, Watchmen, just to name a few). And like some actors tend to do she has directed episodes of many different television shows (Insecure, Southland, The Good Doctor, Greenleaf, Scandal, This is Us). But now she has come full circle making her directorial debut, and what an incredible debut it was. The film starts off by giving us a look at where each of these great men are in their lives and offers a glimpse into the harsh reality they live in. They are the best at what they do, but as the story progresses the fears and insecurities that each man faces start to become present.
The majority of this film takes place inside one of the rooms in the Hampton House as they are all celebrating Cassius Clay’s victory against Sonny Liston which marked an important step in Clay’s life. In a movie like this, it takes focused, charismatic and captivating performances to keep you interested in what is going on. This movie does that in spades as the casting is what makes this movie great.
Aldis Hodge who has been gaining more recognition over the last few years was able to become Jim Brown with the mannerisms, vocal quality, and silent presence that Brown always has. Leslie Odom Jr. whose star has been rising since he was a part of the smash-hit play Hamilton amongst other projects, really captured the struggle that Sam Cooke faced as a Black artist at the time. Some would argue that he was catering to a particular audience, and that does play a role in this story and Odom is able to present that conflict along with confidence and singing. The one actor in the movie who can be looked at as the newcomer is Eli Goree, and he steals the show as the greatest boxer of all time in Muhammad Ali, in more ways than one. From the mannerisms, voice work, and the physical transformation he did to become Ali it was all incredibly well done. He often felt like the baby brother of the group who has the biggest potential going forward out of all of them. With all of that in mind, the heart of this movie is given its blood by Kingsley Ben-Adir who portrays Malcolm X.
He is the one who brings everyone together and ultimately challenges each one to see what they could do together to help African Americans in the United States at a very trying time, amongst other injustices. He is also dealing with many obstacles and problems that weigh on him heavily. The writing is also an important factor in this story and having Kemp Powers who wrote the screenplay (in addition to writing the original play) really helped with the pacing and the character moments. Unlike some other movies where someone is portraying a real-life person, this never felt like an imitation or a mockery for each individual. The way that they all were able to agree, disagree, contemplate and just overall conversate shows the strong bond that these great men all had. This film is one that I strongly believe everyone can learn something from and be amazed by. Without going into spoilers the ending is very bittersweet and sad if you know what will happen. Regardless of that, the movie left a tremendous impact on me. I can’t wait to see what Regina King does next!
The Verdict: