One Night in Miami (2020)

One Night in Miami: Directed by Regina King. With Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.. A fictional account of one incredible night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement and cultural upheaval of the 60s.

“Oscar winning actress Regina King makes her directorial debut in One Night in Miami.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAdapted from a stage play. It imagines a meeting in a hotel after Cassius Clayu0026#39;s (Eli Goree) defeat of Sonny Liston in 1964 when he was crowned world heavyweight champion.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eClay and his friends Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr) and Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) get together to celebrate, joke, argue and debate about being black in 1960s America.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe pre credit sequence concentrates on each of these men. It shows the causal and non casual racism some of them encounter.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe crux of the movie is Clay deciding to become a Muslim and join the Nation of Islam which also entails changing his name.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMeanwhile Malcolm X is considering his future with the Nation of Islam which is causing tensions within the group.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJim Brown wants to leave football and become an actor. It is better for his knees.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCooke has realised that there is money to be made if white groups such as The Rolling Stones have big hits with the songs he has written.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMalcolm X though is angry with Cooke for not taking a strong political stance. He reminds Cooke that black people are being killed everyday. Others tell Malcolm that he is being too hard on Cooke.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDeep down this is a political movie, chiming with the Black Lives Matter debate.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe stagebound nature of this movie is hard to ignore. It also takes a while to get going but becomes compelling when Malcolm X and Sam Cooke clash.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe ensemble cast do bounce off well from each other. The best performance for me was by Leslie Odom Jr, especially his singing voice.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt has to be noted that within a year after this fictionalised meeting that both Malcolm X and Sam Cooke would be dead.”