An influential meeting is imagined in One Night in Miami, the directorial debut of Regina King.
The night begins as a celebration. Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke gather to congratulate Muhammad Ali on his title win over Sonny Liston. Each man was rising or at the top of their respective fields at the time, but they had their eyes on more than personal success. The conversation turns to the place of Black people in America and how they can each push for civil rights, taking the evening from congratulatory to sober and serious.
Kemp Powers adapts this heady material from his play of the same name, but the big name behind the camera is undoubtedly King. With her Oscar win and a hit (and very heady in its own right) TV show, she’s using her clout to bring intelligent, successful Black men to the screen. A play adaptation is no easy thing for a director as the mediums have totally different limitations and possibilities, but King has been working her way up to this feature with a long string of TV directing gigs since 2013.
There’s plenty of star power in front of the camera as well, with the four leads being played by actors with proven chops. Kingsley Ben-Adir is the Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X, Aldis Hodge is football star Jim Brown, Leslie Odom Jr. is singer Sam Cooke, and Eli Goree is boxer Muhammad Ali.
With an intriguing premise and rave reviews from its festival run, One Night in Miami looks like one that shouldn’t be missed.
One Night in Miami is directed by Regina King and stars Kingsley Ben-Adir, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr., and Eli Goree. It will have a limited theatrical run in the US on December 25th, 2020, and release on Amazon Prime January 15th, 2021. For international release dates, click here.
Will you check this one out? Let us know in the comments!
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