Directed by Regina King
Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge
Rated R for language throughout
One Night in Miami is the directorial debut of actress Regina King. In this film, Malcolm X (played by Kingsley Ben-Adir), Cassius Clay, before he became Muhammad Ali (played by Eli Goree), Sam Cooke (played by Leslie Odom Jr.), and Jim Brown (played by Aldis Hodge) are in a motel room celebrating the latest Cassius Clay win. In what is supposed to be a celebratory evening, the four men indulge in meaningful discussions that will ultimately change their view points on certain subjects.
My main takeaway from One Night in Miami is that its a fine movie. It’s enjoyable and has some redeemable quality. Yet, I find myself at odds with the film. I didn’t love the movie as much as I expected, nor did I find myself doing more research on the historical figures, as I do when I view historical dramas. (This is probably because I already knew who the men in the film were and knew their stories). I didn’t find myself fawning over this film because it felt too scripted to me. How do I mean? The film is based on a play and it shows. The film’s dialogue plays too much like a play and doesn’t adapt to the screen too well. The screenplay does a fine job hitting its mark with certain subjects and making us sympathize with the characters, but ultimately, I thought the film felt too scripted. Some of dialogue coming out of the characters didn’t feel natural. I did not get the sense these were four friends hanging out. It felt more like actors pretending to be friends who were hanging out. If the the original source material made more of an effort to adapt to a film, I think it would have been for the better.
While I had issues with the writing, I love the actors in the roles of the famous men. Eli Goree perfectly embodies the cockiness Clay (later Muhammad Ali) displayed on the ring and in front of the cameras. He fit the role so well, I was almost certain that was not Ali himself. Leslie Odom Jr. plays the legendary singer Sam Cooke very well. The same goes for Aldis Hodge who plays Jim Brown. However, Hodge’s role is more of a background character as he is not given much to do. And while I think Kingsley Ben-Adir did a fine job portraying Malcolm X, a part of me could not make the comparison to Denzel Washington’s portrayal in the Spike Lee film. I recently saw Spike Lee’s Malcolm X and was in awe of the film. So naturally, when seeing Ben-Adir play the controversial figure, I had to make the comparison. I know it’s unfair to do this, but I wanted to see how each actor portrayed the figure. Ben-Adir plays him a bit playful, but stern while Washington plays the role as a stern figure who is very serious about his teachings. Each actor is going to naturally going to bring something different to the role, so I applaud Ben-Adir for taking the task of bringing such an important figure back to life and making it his own.
This review would make it seem that I didn’t enjoy the film, but I did. Would I watch the film again? Probably not. Ultimately, I was generally disappointed that I didn’t get much out of this film. I’m disappointed that I didn’t love this film more. One Night in Miami has strong acting performances that carries the film. However, the strong performances aren’t strong enough to make the film worth watching again.
3/4
Edward's Film Reviews 