Sunday, March 28, 2021

One Night in Miami... (2020)

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Song    This is adapted from a stage play and it is very talky.  

For one night, four of the most renown African Americans of the sixties were together in the city of Miami: boxing legend Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), political activist Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), NFL hall of famer Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and soul singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom, Jr.), ostensibly to celebrate Clay's win over heavyweight champion Sonny Liston.  In reality, all four men were contemplating major changes about to occur in their lives, as well as the broader implications of their fame.  Malcolm X was about to cut ties with the Nation of Islam.  Clay was about to announce his conversion to Islam and name change to Muhammad Ali.  Jim Brown was leaving the NFL to be an actor.  Sam Cooke wanted to push his brand into more mainstream appeal.

Like I said, it's based on a play.  So the set is pretty limited and it's mostly just the characters having a two hour conversation.  But it's a really good conversation.  These four actors are excellent, especially Ben-Adir and Odom.  Absolutely worth watching.  It's currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

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