With a lot of flare and strong delivery, director Regina King puts you in a room with four iconic men who helped to shape America in a progressive direction. The inspired by true events drama, One Night in Miami, is convincing, sometimes startling and it’s recreation worth watching. A little staid as the script for this film was taken from a play which took place at Los Angeles’s Rogue Machine Theatre in June of 2013.
The film opens showing Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) fighting Henry Cooper in Wembley Stadium, London in 1963 one year before his fight against Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship. The film goes on to introduce singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), football great Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) and Minister of the Nation of Islam Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) leader of the Muslims in New York.
In a hotel room in Miami the four prominent men gather for a meeting with Malcolm X to celebrate Clay’s win over Sonny Liston. The men talk about their lives and the future of the black man in the country. Each of the actors resemble their characters and make the film extra special. Especially, Eli Goree who has the voice down to nearly perfect along with Clay’s emotions and delivery. But the film belongs to Regina King who does a masterful job of making the movie interesting, sometimes exciting and a message barer by each of the prominent characters.
One Night in Miami has been rated R by the MPAA for language throughout. It includes some racial slurs. The film is available now and can be seen on Amazon Prime. The star rating on the film is 4 out of 5.
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
