The carrot or the stick. The hawk or the dove. Debates over using aggression or peaceful compromise as a group to achieve their aims is an eternal one. In America, this struggle is currently playing itself out on multiple political and social fronts from leftist politics to one that has been a constant in the history of this country, civil rights for Black Americans. In answering these questions, analyzing the struggles of our forefathers can often guide us on our own struggles. Superstar actress Regina King makes her debut as a director through an adaptation of a stage play that visits four legends to do just that.
One Night in Miami is a bit of historical fiction that transports us to the night of February 25, 1964, in Miami. Rising boxing star Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) meets up his friends with NFL superstar Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), soul singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom, Jr.), and Muslim civil rights leader Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) to catch up. As the group unwinds, they end up discussing the current struggle of Black Americans in the United States and what their responsibilities are in supporting the growing civil rights movement. The resulting conflict will cause all four to ponder their futures and make life-changing decisions that will not only shape their own lives, but the country itself over the coming years.
Watching One Night in Miami, I couldn’t help but ponder colliding fates. And not just the fates of the four national figures at the center of the film, but the fate of changing times and social mores as Cassius embarks upon a change in religion and all four men deal with the growing societal discontent over America’s racial caste and the coming Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Within the story, Sam Cooke and Malcolm X operate as stand-ins for the two dueling ideologies of the movement, one more radical than the other’s measured approach. The dichotomy and struggle between those who would seek to make change within the existing system versus those who would tear it down and begin anew has been a constant within Black American civil rights going back to Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. Ideological struggles between factions who desire the same end goal but have different visions of the path toward getting there have hampered and destroyed many movements and are often just as big an obstacle as resistance from the other side. The conversations and conflicts in One Night are impactful in their depiction of this struggle and the various arguments in favor of, and against, both sides.
With the film being Regina King’s first foray behind the camera, getting a first look at her style as a director is one of One Night’s big draws. She shows a real understanding of camera movement and how to use the lens to set the mood. She gets real intimate with her characters focusing on them up close, seemingly aiming to bring the audience into the screen right next to them. One Night is based on a stage play and while it is set in one location for most of the film, King does well in avoiding having the film feel like a theater performance instead of something cinematic. If there is any quibble to be had in the film, it may be with Malcolm X’s characterization where he expresses a belief that entertainers and athletes may be the black community’s greatest weapons in winning the public relations battle for civil rights. This statement from One Night’s Malcolm is at odds with his real life public statements admonishing the elevation of black entertainers as leaders in the community. The place and responsibility of public figures in being leaders of societal change is central to the film and while the opposing views of Sam and Malcolm’s characters was needed for the requisite conflict of the story, it is out of sync with the real life figure of Malcolm X. It is however a small quibble that doesn’t sink the film as the argument is a topical one that continues to rage on today. Are black celebrities indebted to using their status to uplift the race as a whole or are they better suited to staying in the background and deferring to full-time grassroots activists? King also does well in depicting the Jim Crow racism at the center of it all in a scene between Jim Brown and an old white family friend that perfectly encapsulates its perniciousness. The visit between the two seemed so congenial and sweet until Jim Brown offers to help move furniture in the family friend’s home and is casually reminded that the family doesn’t allow niggers in their home. The scene is a frustrating reminder that regardless of our status, all black people have a stake in the fight against racism.
Casting historical figures, particularly legendary ones, can be very hit or miss but One Night in Miami knocked it out of the park. Eli Goree does extremely well in his portrayal of Muhammad Ali, taking a role that is easy to descend into caricature or impersonation and instead fully embodying the spirit of Ali and adopting his mannerisms without coming across as an impressionist. The actor with the most buzz coming out of the film as a possible awards nominee is Kingsley Ben-Adir for his spot on portrayal of Malcolm X. Malcolm is a role that has been played by countless actors, including by one of the best actors ever in a performance that many still argue was wrongly snubbed for an Oscar almost 30 years later, and thus always carries an impossible amount of weight. Ben-Adir manages to make the performance his own and imprint himself on it without succumbing to performances past. His sparring partner in the film Leslie Odom Jr. also shines as the conflicted Sam Cooke, wanting to maintain his status as a beloved crossover crooner while feeling conflicted over the state of his community. The role carries a lot of emotional weight and heft and Odom Jr. handles it with aplomb. Aldis Hodge is more understated as Jim Brown but provides a lot of balance and levity as the reasonable moderate in the night’s conversation keeping the peace between his volatile friends and weighing both sides, serving as the stand-in for the average person in society in this ideological debates who aren’t firebrands and agree with some of everything. All in all, the ensemble each handles their role wonderfully.
One Night in Miami is an impressive directorial debut from Regina King that explores an age-old debate among activists and civil rights leaders in way that brings new light to historical figures from our past and forces us to contemplate the struggles and arguments of the present. The ensemble led by Kingsley Ben-Adir and Leslie Odom Jr. does a masterful job in their portrayals of these beloved figures and the emotional and ideological themes of the story. As the film will remind us, the struggle over how best to defeat the forces that bind us continues, but doesn’t have to divide those who want the same thing.
Image: Amazon Studios
