One Night in Miami (2021) A Conversation with History (Review)

Originally released on Amazon Prime Video and cinemas back in January 2021, Regina King’s feature-length debut One Night in Miami, an adaptation of Kemp Powers’ 2013 play of the same name, who also wrote the screenplay, closed out the year with a Criterion Collection DVD and Blu-ray release in December. While I have heard of Criterion, I had never experienced one of their releases and immediately its reputation for showcasing prestige dramas and artful cinema is evident from the DVD menu alone. Scene selection is available through a visual timeline or text-based chapters, while bonus features are labelled supplements, a phrase so apt that I’m using it from now on.

I want to begin by highlighting my outsider status to this story as a white British person. I recommend reading black American critics like Jourdain Searles and K. Austin Collins for the political impact of this film and a better understanding of the historical context it draws upon. The supplements provide useful context though, of course, their primary focus is on the film itself. As such, I won’t provide an uninformed attempt at how the film ties into real-world issues, though in any discussion of it as a film it has to be touched on because of its subject matter.

With the caveats out the way, let’s get to the film itself. With King being an actor-director, it’d be tempting to see this film debut as an easy start since it is very much a character piece with the action primarily driven by four actors talking in a room. Now, I may not be the best judge as I’m a theatre fan anyway so more likely to be forgiving of any staginess. But it is clear immediately that King isn’t resting on her laurels and is able to make the film feel dynamic rather than stagey.

It opens with an electrifying boxing match at Wembley Stadium where Cassius Clay (later Muhammed Ali) is close to losing the fight. Meanwhile, in his home in the USA, musician Sam Cooke bombs his dream gig at the Copacabana in front of its white audience; sportsman Jim Brown encounters racism from a white friend even as he shows kindness, and activist Malcolm X discusses his fears of the future with his wife.

This opening sequence effortlessly and concisely sets up each of the character’s positions and their struggles before they meet in a hotel room in Miami. Powers discovered that this meeting had happened via a single line in a biography and saw its dramatic potential. His screenplay delivers it captivatingly and does a great job of balancing the legacies of these historical figures with well-rounded characterisation. The dramatic simplicity of Cooke arriving at the hotel before the other three sets him up as having a different way of life from the others. It also highlights how they exist as both people and legends in the middle of history being written. Cooke is forging what the others see as a ‘safe path’ through white society pandering to their tastes at the cost of losing his black identity. There’s an irony in Leslie Odom Jr. being the only one of the cast to be Oscar-nominated for this performance of Cooke and emblematic that these big conversations are still relevant today.

It is a testament to King and Powers that they are able to make these big conversations feel real and not abstract political dialogues. Script and performances combine beautifully to have each character’s ideals form convincing facets of their identity. Malcolm justifies carrying a camera with him because the “camera never lies” suggesting a belief in truthfulness, but also his ability to manipulate as he attempts to do with the others. Kingsley Ben-Adir is mesmerising and plays off his fellow actors in subtly different ways, particularly with Aldis Hodge as Jim. By far the quieter of the four, Hodge still commands attention and authority through his presence, which lends further weight when he speaks. As he says, “We’re all just gladiators with our rulers sitting up there in his box giving us the thumbs up or the thumbs down. Well I don’t want none of that ruler,” or indeed any ruler, as he is convicted enough to change careers on his own terms.

Last but by no means least, Eli Goree as Cassius brings unrestrained energy that reminds us how young these four men are: Cassius 22, Cooke 33, Brown 28, and Malcolm was only 39 in this year before his murder. Cassius’ description of the four of them as “Young, black, famous, righteous, unapologetic” reflects his optimistic attitude, a man who is the king of the world and still wants to keep climbing. His energy is matched by the film itself which avoids shooting the room flat and transforms it into a container for these big personalities. King explains as much in one of the supplements and how she kept the camera moving and floating while not being distracting.

This attention to detail is evident in the supplements including an interview with King and Powers discussing their collaboration with King also interviewed by Kasi Lemmons, a fellow actor turned director, and Barry Jenkins, who worked with King on If Beale Street Could Talk. King speaks eloquently on the process of adaption but is keen to stress how important the whole cast and crew were in creating her first feature. Sound designer Andy Hay provides particularly interesting insights, such as the recordings of Cooke singing actually being performed by Odom Jr because the fidelity of the original recordings weren’t practical for how they were intended to be used in the film.

It is evident that the cast and crew respect King as much as she does them with Powers stating that when approached about a film adaptation, he had wanted a new fresh director so they’d all ‘have similar stakes’ and it really shows. It’s a film full of life that is dramatic and insightful. One stylistic touch that particularly resonated with me was when each of the main four characters take a moment alone by silently contemplating their reflection in the bathroom. Odom Jr describes the film as “all imagination” but as these quiet moments demonstrate, it creates a space for important political dialogue to be had with serious contemplation.

MIKE’S ARCHIVE – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI