Embedded Files
Edit 11/28/20: poster
Edit 2/4/21: rating
Final Thought
Final Thought
Regina King's One Night in Miami... is a profound, emotionally grounded, and reflective film about a legendary evening complete with stellar performances, direction, and an excellent script.
Rating
Rating
5 out of 5
One Night in Miami...: Film Review
Directed by Regina King
Written by Kemp Powers
Starring Kinglsey Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Leslie Odom, Jr., Aldis Hodge
Synopsis
Synopsis
From Rotten Tomatoes:
On the night of Feb. 25, 1964, in Miami, Cassius Clay joins Jim Brown, Sam Cooke and Malcom X, and they discuss the responsibility of being successful black men during the civil rights movement.
Review
Review
OK... can we talk about Regina King? Can we just take a moment to just appreciate this woman and her amazing career? She has been an award-winning actress since her work on 227, doing films from Boyz n the Hood to Ray and television from American Crime to Watchmen, for which she recently won an Emmy. She has won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for If Beale Street Could Talk, one my favorite performances in recent memory. She has several Emmy's for her television acting work and has started to make a name for herself directing television, most notably episodes of the hit HBO show Insecure, and now she has burst into the film directing scene with her stellar debut, One Night in Miami... King has crafted an excellent meeting-of-the-minds film for the ages with the help of fantastic performances and an excellent script. Her direction displays an excellent amount of bravura and makes her one the directors to watch this upcoming awards cycle.
As most stage-to-screen adaptations are - this film is an adaptation of a play of the same name and by the same writer - this film is very dialogue-heavy. Often times, that can be a damaging quality of a film because it requires too much focus of the audience and it starts to feel like a lecture. That is not the case with this film. Kemp Powers' screenplay has very compelling dialogue that keeps your focus. That is also due in part to the performances, but that's for next paragraph. The film asks a multitude of important, though-provoking questions about celebrity's involvement in the civil rights movement. Should successful Black entertainers speak out
against racism and to what degree? Can you put a value on spreading a message of equality? Is it worth it to be considered a sellout? How best can Black celebrities serve the Black community? The film asks and attempts to address these questions with depth and profundity. This film is certainly very timely, as evidenced by the effort to get this film out quickly. Director King has stated that she wanted to make sure the film was released this year after the events of this past summer.
I think the most outstanding part of this film are the performances from the four main actors: Kinglsey Ben-Adir as revolutionary Malcolm X, Eli Goree as boxer Cassius Clay (soon to be Muhammad Ali), Aldis Hodge as NFL superstar Jim Brown, and Leslie Odom, Jr. as silk-voiced singer Sam Cooke. Every single one of these four men do a stellar job and are among some of the best performances I’ve seen this year. Hodge plays Jim Brown with a quiet smugness that oozes with feeling. Goree, the most unknown of the bunch, pulls his weight, too, as the great boxer Cassius Clay as he experiences a moment of internal unsureness juxtaposed with an external moment of victory.
Leslie Odom Jr., perhaps my favorite or second favorite performance, does an excellent job as Sam Cooke. We all know he can sing (if you haven’t seen or heard Hamilton, what are you doing with your life?) and that is on full display here – the final moments of this film feature a heart-wrenching and soulful rendition of Cooke’s classic "A Change is Gonna Come" – but it is in his interactions with Malcolm X that show the level of complexity that Odom plays the role with. His character is undergoing a similar situation as Cassius in that they both experience internal quarrel. Lastly, Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X is given the meatiest role and handles it sensationally. He plays it cool, but you can see a sense of rage and fury that grows as the film progresses. He is the one who questions Sam Cooke about his endeavors in the music industry and whether he intends to advance black people with his music in any way. It is these interactions that provide the best moments of the film. I think that Odom, Jr. and Ben-Adir should 100% be in consideration for Oscars this year, as do Regina King, Kemp Powers, and other technical roles.
Technically, the film is well made. The cinematography along with the production design is on point. They’ve really done a good job of capturing this pocket of the 1960s, though the film takes place mostly in a single room, there is still atmosphere and life that has been injected into it by all elements of the film. I think the direction, script, and performances are the film’s brightest spots. With this film, Regina King has become one of the most versatile and consistently excellent people working in Hollywood today.
Viewed as part of the Mill Valley Film Festival on Oct. 16, 2020
Run Time: 114 minutes
Rated R for language throughout
Google Sites
Report abuse