I didn't realize the movie was based on a play by Kemp Powers (who also adapted this screenplay), but that fact became evident as the movie progressed and I found myself becoming more and more entranced by the dialogue. This is the story of a fictionalized meeting between four Black American icons: Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and Cassius Clay, soon-to-be Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree) who all celebrate in a motel room on the night of February 25, 1964, after Clay has just defeated Sunny Liston to become the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. The movie actually opens with four different scenes highlighting where these men were in their lives prior to this night and the various struggles they were facing, but as they gather in that motel room, the first feeling you get is one of playful exuberance. Clay is so splendidly arrogant, but having just been crowned as world champion, isn't that allowed? He declares that he has conquered the world of boxing and he's only 22, which is such a startling and monumental achievement. But he isn't the only impressive Black man in that room.
Over the course of two hours, we get to understand each man's achievements in his sphere of influence. Sam Cooke is a music maestro, charming white audiences with his voice and dubbed the King of Soul. He isn't just a singer though - he's also a producer with his own label, through which he tries to empower up-and-coming Black artists. Jim Brown is one of the greatest football players of all time, but he's now considering a pivot to Hollywood. And then we have Malcolm X, a man who is fighting so hard for Civil Rights, but is also currently facing his own doubts about the leadership of the Nation of Islam, while dealing with escalating harassment from the FBI. He is a man on the edge, and as this night continues, the celebratory atmosphere takes a turn as X starts to lay into Cooke about how he isn't doing enough with his gifts to speak out for racial justice.
I don't want to get into more detail because it all unfolds beautifully like the world's most engaging history lesson. Cooke's business acumen and his story about Bobby Womack and the Rolling Stones made me cheer. But when X berates him via Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In the Wind," it is a gut punch. Meanwhile, Brown acts as a wonderful mediator, exuding a calm patience built up from years of having to put up with the cognitive dissonance exhibited by his white neighbors back home in Georgia. And you get to see Clay struggle with his impending decision to become a Muslim and join X in the Nation of Islam. This movie captures all four men at such a pivotal moment in their own personal histories, as well as a pivotal moment in the history of Civil Rights in this country and it's a magnificent thing to watch them debate and argue and ascertain what their duty is as pioneers in their fields to speak up for the rest of the downtrodden and oppressed.
Plays adapted for the screen can sometimes suffer in translation, but thanks to the excellent writing and direction, and pitch-perfect casting (I cannot think of four actors who could better capture both the look and essence of these men), One Night in Miami won't bore you for a second. Even though they're in a cramped hotel room, King moves the action around in various ways, either by an interlude on the roof, or a flashback to Cooke singing a few years ago, so you never get too claustrophobic. And let's face it. Even if the entire movie was just these four men in a room, I would have been fascinated for the entire two hours because of the things they had to say. It is such a frank and complicated discussion of race and activism, as well as a chance to stop and marvel at the singular achievements of these men. It's a powerful story that leaves you thirsting for more (I need the Sam Cooke and Jim Brown biopics STAT) and many of their discussions about what they owe to their community are still resonant today. Watch it and let your education continue after you're done.
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