One Night in Miami… (2020)

Directed by: Regina King | 114 minutes | drama | Actors: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr., Lance Reddick, Christian Magby, Joaquina Kalukango, Nicolette Robinson, Michael Imperioli, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Derek Roberts, Beau Bridges, Emily Bridges, Amondre D. Jackson, Jerome A. Wilson, Hunter Burke, Robert Stevens Wayne, Randall Newsome, Matt Fowler, Chris Game, Christopher Gorham, Alan Wells, Jeremy Pope

In ‘One Night in Miami…’ four African-American icons meet in a hotel in Miami. In that city, on February 25, 1964, the young Cassius Clay boxed for the world heavyweight title. After the match, he takes his famous friends Sam Cooke (singer) and Jim Brown (NFL) to a shabby hotel to supposedly celebrate the victory. But in the hotel room, another mutual friend waits for them: activist Malcolm X, a man who fights for the rights of black Americans and has become Muslim in the middle. A man who doesn’t like to party very much.

In the hotel room, the four get into a discussion about the African-American case. Malcolm X has almost convinced Cassius Clay – later Mohammed Ali – to convert to Islam. But the other friends know little about Malcolm’s activism. Cooke believes more in the emancipation of black Americans through the pursuit of economic equality. Jim Brown is the man who mainly observes and asks the right questions, the answers are less interesting to him.

Does this sound boring? Forget it. ‘One Night in Miami…’ is a wonderful film adaptation of the play of the same name by Kemp Powers from 2013. Only two things are important for a beautiful stage adaptation: crackling dialogues and a beautiful set of actors. ‘One Night in Miami…’ has both. The verbal boxing matches between Cooke and Malcolm X are of a high level, Ali provides a bit of humor and perspective, Brown is the man of surprising observations and bone-dry humour. All played by four classy actors, with Kingsley Ben-Adir (Malcolm X) and Aldis Hodge (Jim Brown) stealing the show.

To make the film attractive to people who are less into dialogue, we make some trips between the conversations. The film already starts with a few cool boxing scenes, a concert scene with Cook and a painful foray from Brown to a rich white southerner. Halfway through we leave the hotel room to score some refreshments and we see a special performance by Cooke in a flashback.

But in the end we will remember ‘One Night in Miami…’ mainly as an entertaining, intelligent and stimulating showdown between different ways of thinking. The perfect film for anyone who prefers nuance to polemic.