One Night in Miami... (2020)

The cinematic world of 2020 suffered through many films delays due to theaters closures brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic but what was left to watch ended up being spotlighted more. Within what was made available to watch was the group audiences would expect to show up for awards contenders: movies about black culture or take place there (either fictional or biographic). Streaming service giant Netflix purchased the distribution rights to a few of these such as Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. This brings us to Amazon Studios who made their purchase another entry within that group, One Night in Miami, which was the directorial debut of actress Regina King and was written by Kemp Powers. After making its debut in film festivals, the critics raved about it (even in some top 10 Best movies of 2020 lists). I went in blind as possible checking it out on its recent release on Amazon Prime and ended up liking it but not loving it like the critics.

What's it about? Taking place in 1964, the story follows a fictional meeting between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke in a discussion regarding their upcoming plans to impact civil rights for black culture. The majority of this story primarily takes place in a hotel room as these individuals of differing career paths provides each other their praise or concerns about their respective choices. The layers about them that are uncovered here can certainly encourage audience members unfamiliar with any of these icons to learn more about them after watching it. While these types of topics aren't anything new, the way it's delivered feels like a cozy digestible experience. The dynamics within this group is engaging and intriguing to see unfold in terms of who has stronger bonds and those who have some tension another. 

There are some aspects of it that didn't feel strong enough to elevate this to a near perfect quality. While three out of the four icons get well-fleshed out, one of them didn't really have much to offer in terms of having some kind of engaging topic nor much of a presence that the rest of the core group had. Some of the talks that occur do end up feeling a bit repetitive or not having the big impact it could have had.

 

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actors to focus on are Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, and Leslie Odom Jr. Kingsley does a great portrayal in terms of having a dignified professionalism in his beliefs hiding his own frustrations. Eli provides a cool standout performance that combines a confident charisma and supportive nature while looking toward the future carefully. Leslie gives a highlight performance as someone who's within the music industry but has to acclimate to his surroundings before making his moves towards his own aspirations. Honorable mentions goes to Aldis Hodge for having some nice moments, despite being underutilized. 

 

Overall Consensus: One Night in Miami takes its fictional premise into a cozy viewing experience with solid performance, interesting discussions between icons, and good chemistry between the actors. ⭑⭑⭑⭑ Runtime: 1 hour 54 minutes R

 

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors, director Regina King, or writer Kemp Powers. You like period dramas regarding cultural icons. You want to see how it compares to other 2020 black culture films like Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. 

 

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors, director Regina King, or writer Kemp Powers. You dislike period dramas in general.