As a huge Sam Cooke fan, I was thrilled to hear last year that One Night in Miami was coming to Amazon Prime in January.
The film tells the story of four real-life friends: Sam Cooke, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X and Jim Brown, who have a night of poignant discussion and realisation after Ali’s World Heavyweight Championship win in Miami on 25 February 1964.
Before I pressed play, I told myself that I’d be watching with the understanding that it is a mix of fact and fiction – fact being that these four influential individuals were friends in real life, and they did all meet in a hotel room after Muhammad Ali’s win. The fiction being that no one really knows what they spoke about, just that it was a special night of refection for all of them.
Being a fan of Sam Cooke and researching his life as intensely as I have, I did notice a few errors and inaccuracies of how he was portrayed and the timeline of when things happened. Rather than drone on about them, if you do want to find out more about the great man, I suggest watching the ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke documentary on Netflix or reading Dream Boogie – The Triumph of Sam Cooke by Peter Guralnick.
As I started watching, I was pleased to see that the film begins in a captivating way and explains who each of the main characters are. It is a great way to set the scene for the audience who are unfamiliar with them all.
They consist of:
Sam Cooke, AKA Mr Soul who, in February 1964 was at the height of his career. An incredibly talented singer, musician and songwriter, he had sold millions of records and was an excellent businessman – one of the first black men who owned his own record label and publishing company.
Muhammad Ali – professional boxer and activist who at the time this film is set, has just won the most admirable award in his career.
Malcolm X – a human rights activist, minister and spokesperson for the Nation of Islam.
Jim Brown – professional football player, considered to be one of the greatest NFL players in history.
Over an hour is solely filmed in the hotel room, where the writers take a guess as to what these four men discussed, and we see emotions soar and tempers rise. The incredible acting in this film had me in tears, and in my opinion, this film is deserving of numerous awards. I sincerely hope that it does well at this year’s Oscars, and I think it has an exceptionally good chance of being nominated for, if not winning, the following:
- Best picture
- Best director: Regina King
- Best actor: Kingsley Ben-Adir
- Best supporting actor: Leslie Odom Jr.
- Best original song: Speak Now – Leslie Odom Jr.
I was really pleased I watched One Night in Miami and would definitely recommend people to watch it. It will make you smile, cry, feel angry, upset, but the overall message prevails – that a change is gonna come.
Enjoy and stay musical.
Nice blog