In an intellectual style, this movie highlights the importance of poignant conversation.
Regina King makes her film directorial debut in “One Night in Miami…” The movie surrounds a fictionalized night where Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke have a conversation. The movie itself was full of intellectual, great dialogue surrounding some of the key Civil Rights leaders in history and has been nominated for three Golden Globe nominees.
When I began watching this movie, the first thing I noticed is that each opening scene highlights what each character’s struggles. Muhammad Ali or Cassius Clay struggles with focus and arrogance. Sam Cooke changes the way he performs based on if it’s a Black or White audience. Jim Brown is still friendly with a man who calls him a n******. Malcolm X struggles to do the right thing for his family and leave the Nation of Islam.
These opening shots are impactful as what they struggle for are key themes throughout the movie that lead us to a beautiful ending. While this movie is artistically elegant, it is a slow movie. The most action-packed scenes are the two scenes where Muhammad Ali is boxing.
The actor, Eli Goree, in his boxing scenes upholds Muhammad Ali’s graceful boxing style with a beautifully lit stage and fantastic angles. His boxing is shown as both brutal and artful through Goree’s movements. In fact, I think the whole reason Regina King got a Golden Globe was because of how she artfully set up the lighting and shots.
These beautiful shots are portrayed next in a scene with Muhammad Ali as he trains underwater. He is shown in a wide shot, centered throwing punches, and this concept shows his fluidity of motion and how he trains. It’s beautiful. It’s also the title card for the movie. How genius is that?
It becomes very clear early on that this movie is all about dialogue. While I don’t want to reveal all that they talk about, as this is the true joy of the movie, I will say that Kemp Powers adapted his play for the screen by beautifully portraying how Black people talk when there is no one to impress.
However, one of the biggest struggles of this movie is that it is adapted from a play. The play is set in one room and it is the hotel room where these men have a conversation. While that might work for a stage play, it doesn’t translate as well to a movie. Therefore, the movie struggled to keep the audience engaged despite the lighting, positioning and motion that Regina King effortlessly worked into this movie.
If you stay engaged, you will see the beauty of the frames, distance and shots in this movie. One of my favorite moments is when the argument gets heated and the men are all in different corners of the room portraying tension. They dance around the corners of the room the entire time. However, the pressure mounts until Sam Cooke and Malcolm X come together with Cooke leaving the room.
After Sam Cooke re-enters the scene, there is a moment where these dingy hotel lights create a beautiful shot behind Kingsley Ben-Adir, who plays Malcolm X and seems to portray him as the man who moved all of these men to action.
All of the actors including the man who played Jim Brown, Aldis Hodge, who I have not mentioned yet were phenomenal. However, in my personal opinion, one actor stood out, and that was Leslie Odom Jr. who played Sam Cooke. I am a big fan. He was a perfect pick for this role as his smooth voice works perfectly for the legendary Sam Cooke’s music.
Odom’s acting also stands out, leaning into each “performance” even when there is no one watching. The way he portrays a man who is successful, yet always striving for more is interesting. His most impactful scene is where he talks about how he thought he should have written a song like Bob Dylan’s “Blowin in the Wind.”
The ending scene is especially powerful as Leslie Odom Jr. sings “A Change is Gonna Come” an iconic song. This song gave me chills because of how powerful Leslie’s performance was. It’s worth it to watch this movie for the challenging dialogue and impactful ending, but it is so much more than that. I highly suggest you hop on Amazon Prime and watch this movie.
The Beat @APU 