Ever since it was announced that One Night in Miami, a film that sees four of the greatest African-American legends in history–Malcolm X, Mohammed Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke together for one night in Miami–was Regina King’s directorial debut this movie has been getting Oscar buzz and now that it’s out on Amazon Prime Video I decided to give it a look myself.
I’ve seen two other Oscar buzz films so far. Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods and Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 and I have to say, I think One Night in Miami is my favorite film of the three movies so far.
One Night in Miami takes dramatic license on a true story in which Malcolm, Jim, Mohammed, and Sam actually spend a night together in Miami, resulting in a powerful film that felt like a proper homage to the historical figures while also invoking themes that correlate with our own time and problems.
Regina King will most likely be getting a nomination for her fantastic directing and One Night in Miami definitely deserves a nomination for Best Picture. It isn’t as great as BlacKkKlansman, the film that I still feel should’ve won Best Picture instead of Green Book, but it is memorable and thought-provoking
Will any of the actors get nominations? Mmm…probably not, even though I think they did a decent job bringing these historical figures to life, especially Kingsley Ben-Adir who played Malcom X. He brought a sense of vulnerability to Malcolm that’s somewhat missing in Denzel Washington’s iconic interpretation of the man in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X.
All in all, One Night in Miami is no towering achievement but it is worthy of the praise it has gotten so far. I’m giving 93 out of 100 and 4.5 out of 5 stars.
I thank you for reading and I hope you have a fantastuc day.