When it comes to historical dramas, one of the key elements that often make numerous ones work are the authenticity that the filmmakers behind them give the stories. The audience looks for that realism which ultimately transports them into the films setting, so they can live and breathe the environment that the main characters are in. If they're able to find themselves buying the different time settings the stories present, along with connecting with the characters, than the filmmakers essentially succeeded with their storytelling. With One Night In Miami, Oscar winning actress turned feature film director Regina King transports audiences back to mid 1960's Miami during the heat of the civil rights movement. Rather than showing the events of the era, she chooses to focus on a pivotal night where some of the key figures of the civil rights movement such as Malcom X, NFL star Jim Brown, singer Sam Cooke, and boxing champion Cassius Clay all join together to celebrate the latter's surprise title victory over Sonny Liston, with their meeting turning into a philosophical debate over their different approaches and methods in regards to the fight for civil rights for African-Americans. What could've essentially ended up being a rather bland and boring film is made an engaging and powerful one mainly due to King's surprisingly steady and intimate approach to telling the story, along with the stellar performances she's able to get out of her enormously talented cast. One Night In Miami serves as being a fitting portrait of several larger-than-life individuals, who are all essentially fighting the same battle but have different approaches in regards to doing so with the film bringing them down to a more human level. The end result rightfully standing as being one of 2020's best films thus far.
Based on the 2013 award-winning play of the same name, the plot for One Night In Miami centers the story around the surprise boxing victory of Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) over Sonny Liston. The aftermath places Clay with Malcom X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) all gathering in a hotel room in Miami with them discussing, disagreeing and debating with each other on their roles in the civil rights movements, utilizing both their celebrity influence as well as discussing religious views. Although the film is a fictionionalized meeting between the four civil rights figures, the execution of it is so convincing that audiences could literally buy it as being real without question. What Regina King does well with handling the story, is giving audiences the essence of the real-life individuals with audiences being sold on each actor playing their respective parts, as well as those not familiar with these men getting a general outline of what their beliefs and personalities are like. The story is so well-executed and directed with a clear respect and admiration for these characters, that audiences ultimately buy the authenticity of these four individuals coming together and clashing over whose vision of the civil rights movement is more effective than the other in regards to bringing about change. King impresses here with how steady she keeps the story focused, while personalizing all of the main characters. Given that this is her first feature film, she appears to hold a firm grip over her craft with crafting a hauntingly powerful story about a turbulent era that was plagued by racism with each successful African-American figure trying in their own ways to make a difference in bringing about change. The story for One Night In Miami is an absorbing one with its story not just serving as a reflection of the past, but feels appropriate and timely for today. As both a historical drama and set-piece, One Night In Miami largely excels with Regina King establishing herself as being a promising new filmmaker with genuine talent at directing.
The key elements of One Night In Miami that make it so effective and hard-hitting for audiences is the performances of the main cast. The ensemble presented here does a fantastic job of playing their parts with everyone feeling perfectly-casted in bringing their real-life figures to life, along with embodying both their personality traits and spirit. There isn't one performance shown that's lacking with everyone giving their all with their parts with the strongest work coming from Kingsley Ben-Adir and Leslie Odom Jr. in their respective roles as Malcom X and Sam Cooke. Both actors give phenomenal performances with the audience witnessing the contrast in both mens beliefs, as well as their approaches towards the civil rights movement. Adir is terrific as Malcom and gives the best on screen performance of the civil rights figure since Denzel Washington played him in Spike Lee's acclaimed 1992 drama Malcom X. Malcom is portrayed as being someone who cares about his friends, while also seeing the valued potential they carry in regards to using their celebrity status to advance the fight for African-Americans to be treated better. Adir shows Malcom's tendency to come down hard on the others, particularly Cooke when criticizing his contentment to sing music for whites, along with letting them take his music and claim it as their own despite getting a portion of the profits due to contractural agreement. Although Malcom's character may appear as being too hard on Cooke and the others, he clearly means well and wants them to have a similar mindset in fighting for the rights of African-Americans that's comparable to his. Leslie Odom Jr. completely shines in his role as Sam Cooke, while working well off Adir's performance. Odom's performance is key to the story with his character having the strongest arc out of everyone shown in the story, with him conveying a strong level of emotion, especially with his characters final scene in the film that's undeniably powerful. In the roles of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown, both Eli Goree and Aldid Hodge give strong performances with Goree's portrayal of Clay being striking with him conveying all the right mannerisms required for the part of playing loud-mouthed Cassius. Aldid Hodge plays Jim Brown as being the more laid back and confident figure of the four with him showing quieter yet visible frustration with the mistreatment he receives due to his skin color as evidenced at the beginning of the film with him being forced to stay on the porch of an acquaintances house due to being black. The rest of the supporting cast turns in notably effective performances with Lance Reddick as Malcom's bodyguard Brother Kareem with Christian magby as Jamaal, Joaquin Kalukango as Malcom's wife Betty X, Nicolette Robinson as Barbara Cooke, and Beau Bridges as Jim Brown's racist acquaintance Mr. Brown. Overall, the cast for One Night In Miami does a fantastic job of not only playing their real-life counterparts, but doing so with a clear respect and admiration for their roles. The film works as effectively as it does in being a powerful historical drama because of their efforts, and ultimately wouldn't be as memorable if they weren't involved. The cast serves as being the life of the film, and is what drives home the films main themes and overall message.
Along with the films acting performances, the directing by Regina King proves to be nothing short of impressive here with her creating an atmosphere that has both the look and feel of the 1960's era with excellent cinematography, costume, and set design. King directs the film with a clear vision of what she wants to show with her presenting the evening with all four civil rights leaders as being a significant moment for the audience. The camera work shown in the film feels as if its floating during the scenes with the four so the performances of the main actors dominate the scenes, along with the audience feeling as if they're in the room watching this monumental moment. King gives the film a slow pace that allows the audience to connect with the group as a whole, giving each main character a speech or monologue that turns the spotlight towards them. The films score by Terrence Blanchard is effective in not only driving the emotional core of the story, but also emphasizing the legacy of Sam Cooke with references to his work including his trademark song "A Change Is Gonna Come", which plays a key part in the films story. With One Night In Miami, King brings a lot of talent to the project with her doing such a skillful job of directing the story that audiences would never guess that this is her first time behind the camera. She keeps the films main narrative focused while successfully humanizing the main figures. With the meeting of the four civil rights titans, King doesn't simply set out to tell the story, but rather aims to make it an experience that the audience will unquestionably think about, as well as reflect upon long after the end credits roll.
The screenplay written by Kemp Powers is a thought-provoking piece that covers themes pertaining to racism, the fight for civil rights, fame, regrets, using ones celebrity status to help push change, oppression, empowerment, and the power that one holds in ultimately making a difference. What the script does well is not just exploring and weaving all of these themes into the story, but showing all the different ways that successful African-Americans tried to make a difference in making the world around them a better place for their community. The script shows each person's struggle with trying to bring about change while experiencing their own share of setbacks and unique form of discrimination such as Jim Brown's character being a successful NFL star, but isn't allowed to set foot in a white persons home solely based on his skin color alone. Another form of discrimination touched upon is the mentioning of Sam Cooke's music barely cracking the top 100 songs, but a song centering around oppression that's performed by Bob Dylan making its way to the top of the charts. Of all the character arcs presented of the four main figures, Sam Cooke's character has the most fulfilling one with him shown as being a struggling artist in the beginning to becoming a successful one in the end with "A change Is Gonna Come" ending up as his finest achievement with him delivering both a powerful and meaningful message behind it. The script for One Night In Miami is brilliantly-written and padded in regards to giving the audiences insight into each persons background, as well as their way of thinking and how they perceive the fight for civil rights to be. The thrill that the audience gets out of seeing these individuals all together are the different type of perspectives clashing, as well as the humanizing of the main characters as audiences know them as being powerful leaders though often forgetting that they were human like everyone else. The relationship between Malcom X and Cassius serves as the heart of the story with Malcom X being proud of Clay becoming a Muslim and helping advance the fight for civil rights, but finds himself being conflicted with staying under the leadership of Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad after a scandal breaks out regarding adultery. Malcom's humanity is put on full display here in comparison to the other characters with Sam Cooke having the second biggest character arc. The films showcasing of the two clashing over their different approaches to fighting for civil rights is compelling along with being revealing with the fact that it shows Malcom's antagonizing of Cooke is partially rooted by his own stress in his life regarding being constantly harassed by the FBI, as well as fears about his schism with Elijah Muhammad. Although the script makes a point to show the four men's clear respect and admiration for each other, the writing truly comes alive and is at its most effective when the men clash over their own situations in dealing with racism, along with their own distinct plans of combating it. One Night In Miami unpacks a lot with it's scriptwriting, and does a great job of exploring these four key figures and giving audiences the essence of who they are while showing a more personal and human side of them too. The script isn't so much about a hangout between them, but shows the sharing as well as clashing of ideas, experiences, and hard-hitting realities with the men all realizing in the end that they're all in the same fight together regardless of what way they choose to approach the situation. The script also shows the strength of friendship with Malcom X's character later revealing to Cassius, that he's leaving the Muslim organization and creating his own with him offering Clay the opportunity to join him. Feeling betrayed by this move, Clay becomes angry and asks Malcom if the reason he wanted him to become a Muslim was so that he could bring attention to his new organization through the converting of Clay with X assuring him that it isn't. Such a moment is a significant one in the story because it shows the bond that the two men share as friends, along with the group essentially being there for each other and ultimately leaning on the other for support. For a script that carries a basic premise, One Night In Miami feels heavy and doesn't waste any moment in maximizing the development of both the stories themes and characters to their full potential.
Despite the films story being one that's well-told, it won't be one that'll sit as being easy viewing for audiences with the issue of racism making it feel both significantly heavy, as well as depressing at times. Whereas One Night In Miami delivers audiences a painful reflection of a turbulent time in American history, it also provides hope with giving audiences key figures in the fight for civil rights whom they can ultimately relate to depending on whose beliefs they find themselves ultimately lining up with. It's no question that the film will provoke numerous debates, as well as discussions with audiences in regards to which person has the best approach to fighting for civil rights with them ultimately appreciating each persons attempt to make society better for African-Americans. Regina King makes no hesitation in presenting these men as being larger-than-life individuals with each receiving their key moments in driving the power of the story. Along with doing so, she shows them not just as four heavyweights of the civil rights era, but rather four men who are on the cusp of making decisions within their lives that will unquestionably divide and anger others with most being done for a greater cause. Although history regards them as unforgettable faces, King goes a step further to show audiences that they were also relatable individuals, who were driven by pure ideology and action. It's a remarkable tribute to all four men, while also doing justice to the play that inspired what's become a well made piece of cinema. One Night In Miami is a well-cast and tremendously acted historical drama that marks King's entrance into the world of directing on a thunderous note, while reminding audiences that although times have changed significantly since the era these men lived in, there's still much more work to be done. The greatest shame would be if the film fails to receive significant Academy Award recognition.
Final Verdict: For historical buffs and those who enjoy films based on well-staged plays as well as the civil rights era, One Night In Miami is a must see triumph for first time director Regina King.
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