"One Night in Miami" May Be the Most Important Movie of 2020

 

Writer Kemp Powers' 2013 play "One Night in Miami" comes to the screen in spectacular fashion in this new award-bait film adaptation. While Powers made his movie directorial debut in Soul, he settles for screenwriter here while Regina King sat in the big chair on this project. The story, a real meeting featuring imagined conversations between Malcolm X, Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali and Sam Cooke at a pivotal time for all four, is a simple one but involves very complex ideas: namely, Black liberation and Black power. Considering the deep divisions in America (not to mention Europe) that were illustrated following the murder of George Floyd last year and the fact that many of these rifts are spotlighted in One Night in Miami, which takes place during the last great civil rights movement, it may be the most important movie of 2020.

During the unofficial summit, following Cassius Clay's (Ali hadn't yet renounced his slave name) victory over Sonny Liston for the heavyweight boxing title, the various members of the group push one another to further tap into his considerable potential to lead. And it's not all pretty. Low-blows are thrown and egos are checked. But the movie isn't concerned with sanitizing anything. One Night begins with Brown being casually referred to as a "nigger" by a white man who also claims to be a fan and supporter. This slap in the face is soon followed by Cooke being discriminated against by white audience members at a performance. And Malcolm X's impending split with the Nation of Islam and stalking by the FBI are omnipresent specters.

Set in February 25, 1964, the quartet of influential Black voices are called together by the powerful Nation of Islam firebrand at a time when each man is on the verge of cementing his legacy: Cooke's seminal civil rights anthem "A Change Is Gonna Come" would debut soon; Brown would lead his team to an NFL championship 10 months later and retire from the league to focus on acting and activism in two years; Clay would change his name the following month and refuse to be drafted for the Vietnam War two years later; Malcolm X would announce his split from the Nation of Islam the following month and begin his life-changing pilgrimage to Mecca the month after that. The legendary singer would be shot to death within 10 months; the minister in just under a year. Jim Brown is the only surviving subject of the film.

Available for streaming on Amazon Prime on January 15.

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