The catalytic role in Regina King's impressive directorial debut, One Night in Miami, is that of Malcolm X, played by British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir. It is Malcolm who convenes the meeting with soul man Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), football legend Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) and the newly crowned heavyweight champion Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) on the night of Clay's defeat of Sonny Liston for the title. It's 1964. Just months before both Cooke and Malcolm would die violent deaths.
That specter hangs over everything that is exchanged between the four old friends in that motel suite, giving Malcolm's urgency, his paranoia and perhaps monomania such chilling potency. He needs Clay's conversion to Islam to fuel his move to separate from Black Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad and the organization that Malcolm feels has grown corrupt and abusive. Malcolm will need followers to build his own movement, and he wants his friends to step up and energize Black Americans. The men are not altogether receptive to Malcolm's entreaties, but their love and respect for him keep them in the room.
The screenplay by Kemp Powers, based on his stage play, crackles with electricity, awareness and relevance. The lines are knowing and probative of the audience's understanding of the civil rights movement beyond familiar tales of bus boycotts and lunch counter demonstrations. One Night in Miami is not about strategy and tactics; it's about self-awareness, passion, conviction and the need to write one's own history. It's thought-provoking and splendidly acted, with a palpable sense of period and locale.
That specter hangs over everything that is exchanged between the four old friends in that motel suite, giving Malcolm's urgency, his paranoia and perhaps monomania such chilling potency. He needs Clay's conversion to Islam to fuel his move to separate from Black Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad and the organization that Malcolm feels has grown corrupt and abusive. Malcolm will need followers to build his own movement, and he wants his friends to step up and energize Black Americans. The men are not altogether receptive to Malcolm's entreaties, but their love and respect for him keep them in the room.
The screenplay by Kemp Powers, based on his stage play, crackles with electricity, awareness and relevance. The lines are knowing and probative of the audience's understanding of the civil rights movement beyond familiar tales of bus boycotts and lunch counter demonstrations. One Night in Miami is not about strategy and tactics; it's about self-awareness, passion, conviction and the need to write one's own history. It's thought-provoking and splendidly acted, with a palpable sense of period and locale.
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