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On February 25th, 1964 reigning heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston met the young Cassius Clay for the first time in the ring to retain his title of best boxer in the world. He left the ring that night without the title belt and the young Cassius Clay or who would be known later on as Muhammad Ali emerged as heavyweight champion of the world. One Night in Miami is the directorial debut of actress Regina King and stars Aldis Hodge, Eli Goree, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Leslie Odom Jr. The film is about a fictional meeting of Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke in a Miami hotel room before and after Ali's win over Sonny Liston in 1964. While all famous, they see each other as friends who aren't afraid to challenge each other over their views on the current state and future of Black America.
This is a really, really great film full of career best performances and inspiring speeches that challenges one to look deep within. While all four men perform award caliber performances, the standout has to be Eli Goree and Kingsley Ben-Adir. Both men portray Ali and Malcolm X respectively, and both were tasked with pretty big shoes to fill. The film pits these two against each other as Malcolm is growing more and more disillusioned of the future of the Nation of Islam while Clay takes his conversion and new-found faith seriously.
The film runs just under two hours and at times you can feel the length. That's pretty much my only critique on the film itself. The film is full of conversation and character dialogue that I found riveting and intriguing. As a new, avid reader of screenplays, I cannot wait to get my hands on this one. For being her first directed film, Regina King does a fantastic job bringing these characters to life. The atmosphere in the ring makes it not only feel like a real boxing match, but like we are watching young Muhammad Ali up close and personal.
The film also provides exceptional discussion with all viewpoints on the future of Black men in America. All four characters have different viewpoints and this leads to confrontation amongst the characters at times especially that of Malcolm and Sam Cooke. While all four have their thoughts and opinions on the subject, they all are friends first and respect each other more then anything. This film provided a great example of four men with different views getting together and discussing their difference of opinions but not letting it affect their relationships. One Night in Miami was a great reminder that not everything needs to divide us, but rather unify us together through respect.
Grade: A-
One Night in Miami starts streaming January 15th on Amazon Prime.