One Night in Miami by Regina King (review)

Regina King’s One Night in Miami is an adaption of Kemp Power’s 1993 screenplay of the same name (Thompson, 2020). King attempted to provide a vivid representation of a historical moment that allowed Jim Brown, Cassius Clay, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X to converge for a meeting at the Hampton House Motel (Miami, Florida) on February 25, 1964. Before turning to the meeting, the film offers viewers a glimpse into a world where the practice of segregation and racial supremacy governed the lives of Black Americans, especially in the southern region of the US. To illustrate, Jim Brown (played by Aldis Hodge) stopped by the home of a White resident while visiting relatives in Georgia only to be called a nigger by the owner, after he graciously offered to help him move around some furniture. Sam Cooke (played by Leslie Odom, Jr.) was similarly humiliated when several White patrons ridiculed him while others walked out on his performance at the Copacabana. Unlike Brown, Clay, and Cooke, Malcolm X (played by Kingsley Ben-Adir) finds himself at odds as he contemplates a departure from the Nation of Islam, while recognizing that his decision will likely lead to grave consequences for his family’s livelihood. Although these characters’ struggles are strikingly different, their origins can be traced to racial injustice.

The fight between Clay and Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship of the world was the impetus for bringing the four men together. The bout lasted all of seven rounds but was not without intrigue. At one point in the fight Clay found himself blinded, seemingly by a mysterious substance that had been applied to Liston’s gloves. Why this was not captured in the film is unclear, especially since this development was such an important part of the fight and is widely documented. Before Clay’s vision was temporarily impaired, he ran circles around the older and sluggish Liston, jabbing and counter-punching and eluding Liston’s ill-timed punches. Unable to land a solid single punch, Liston flustered and battered failed to answer the bell for the 8th round. The crowd was beside itself. Brown, who was seated at ringside and who commented on the fight throughout, was ecstatic, leaping to his feet as Liston sat slumped on his stool, claiming an injured shoulder. Clay, 22, had done the unthinkable—defeating the once-thought unbeatable Liston—becoming (at the time) the second youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history. After the fight, the four proceeded to the Hampton House Motel in Overtown, the city’s predominantly African American community.

Once inside, King provides viewers with a unique perspective that exposes the pain, love, and vulnerabilities that were/are commonly overlooked when seeing them in the outside world. Beyond this room, these men were forced to be warriors against oppression in their chosen fields of endeavor. However, in the context of this area, each man was able to allow their authentic selves to emerge as they hashed out their differences, positions, and strategies to the sociopolitical climate that continued to stifle the growth of many Blacks across the nation.

As viewers witness the various exchanges and scuffles among the characters, they are bombarded by the realities and complexities that shaped the lives and identities of these characters. Whether it was religion, politics, economics, or entertainment, the underlying question that permeated the minds of each person was best articulated by Malcolm X when he asked, “how much do the oppressed have to do before they can be recognized as human beings?” (King, 2020). Although each of the characters believed they were fighting the fight the best way they knew how, he still believed that more should be done, “[there being] no room for us to be standing on the fence” (King, 2020). Malcolm’s growing frustration and sense of urgency is soon redirected as he takes aim at Cooke, who he believes is not living up to his potential as an artist and activist. In defense, Cooke believes that his approach is effective because...