One Night in Miami is a film that I saw before it was initially announced for a Criterion release. For me, I won’t lie. I found the film a tiny bit underwhelming, personally. I feel like if there was more to explore with the characters than what was shown on screen. Despite being 4 iconic figures in history, some may not know their story, Sam Cooke especially. The verbal warfare that was a constant back and forth for the film is easily the strength of the film, but then again, the film is originally adapted from a play. So that should be a given. I do feel as if they could have played around a little more with the motel setting that they were in, in regards to shot composition and scene location. But the biggest thing that I would personally like to change about this film if I were director Regina King, is that I would personally have turned this into a six episode mini-series. Taking the time to focus in on all 4 men and taking four episodes to shine a spotlight on a small bite-sized moment in each of their lives prior to the night in discussion. I feel like this would have elevated their characters in the film and made the audience far more attached to the events that occurred within the film. Where I would ultimately split this film as is as the final two episodes of the mini series. Keeping it basically the exact same way how it currently is. Hopefully what I’m saying makes sense. The film on my initial viewing just did not grip me as much as I hoped it would. Anyways, I personally was a big fan of the acting performances in the film. I previously was a fan of Leslie Odom Jr because of his show-stealing performance in Hamilton as Aaron Burr. But the rest of the cast were fairly unknowns to me, so I was pleasantly surprised by all of their performances. I really hope criterion continues to further their relationships with Amazon. Sound of Metal was another title that was announced sometime last year but has yet to get an official criterion release date and that title is one that I was a massive fan of which came out in 2020. I also really hope that criterion starts to look further back into the Amazon Original catalog. The Handmaiden (2016), directed by Park Chan Wook, is one such film that I would be over the moon excited to see be announced for a criterion release if it were to ever happen. Anyways, that’s the end of my ramble. I wasn’t very good on sharing my thoughts on individual titles that you reviewed this year Daisuke. But I hope to improve upon that for the 2022 titles that I do end up watching on my own. Boat People is one such title that I cant wait to discuss.
@DaisukeBeppu
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much for this. I think your points are well stated and I think that your suggestion about how this could have been a series is an interesting one. I wonder how that would have affected the drama (maybe it would have enabled a kind of "back story" focus on each of the characters that we get glimpses of in the opening moments of the film). Very interesting indeed.
@Stealthborn
2 жыл бұрын
What happens when four famous figures black pioneers from the 1960s meet with each other in a motel room? How will the perceptions of each other change after conversing with one another? And what implications does this have on their lives afterward in terms of their futures? These are a few questions one can answer in the fascinating new work One Night in Miami... which is directed by Regina King. It is a movie that gives us quite a view of four very important characters in U.S. history that although fictional, is riveting in terms of what we learn about the characters in in comparison to the real life figures they are based upon. The story begins with snippets of the lives of Malcolm X, Cassius Clay , Sam Cooke and Jim Brown dealing with different pressures in their lives. Malcolm X has a lot on his mind when it comes to the Nation of Islam and calls the meeting with all four of them. Cassius goes through a couple of tough bouts all while maintaining his usual demeanor. Sam Cooke has to deal with performing in front of a white audience and is a bit uncomfortable when things don't go the way they should. And Jim Brown meets with an acquaintance which shows the state of the world along with aspirations of an acting career. All four meet in a small motel room and that is where the movie really begins... We start off with Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) who called the meeting in the first place. Malcolm may have the most pressure and concern out of all four of these individuals because he is planning on leaving the Nation of Islam with his family due to changing ideals (something that would happen though he would face challenges, threats and intimidation for doing so for the remainder of his life). He also wants to reflect on the accomplishments of all four of the men and what they're doing for the black community. I feel that Malcolm calls this meeting not just because he admires these three other men but he wants to make sure they're moving in the right direction to be inspirations for their race during the turbulent and progressive 1960s. But this meeting may also be a last call of sorts for Malcolm because he knows once he makes his choice his life will never be the same again due to impending chaos. He may want to have someone else carry the torch for him if something happens. Next we move on to Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) who is still in his prime when it comes to boxing after fights with Henry Cooper (which he almost lost) and Sonny Liston (which he won in an upset) going 19-0 and 20-0 respectively. Cassius is at the meeting because he is considering making public that he is a Muslim and Malcolm X is a mentor to him as we see them pray together at one point (the inspiration was real and Cassius at the time had attended meetings for a while in private). Over the course of the story he has his doubts due to what unfolds in the motel room but ultimately he goes through with making it known that he is a Muslim and changes his name to Muhammad Ali. He would later go on to be influential not only in sport but in terms of political, religious and civil rights as well by using his platform (boxing) to promote that despite having doubts and obstacles throughout his life but holding true to his beliefs. The we move on to Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) who has had an impressive career as a fullback in the NFL (and arguably the greatest according to most fans). Jim has had a storied career in college and the pros but he wants to do something else with his life in terms of acting. But the conflict he goes through is deciding if it is worth it when questioned about certain roles he has lined up and whether it is wise to leave the game of American football itself. He ultimately decides to do that which leads to his retirement from the NFL and would go on to star in multiple films though still having challenges along the way in terms of his personal life though like Cassius/Muhammad he does use his platform to inspire his race. It should also be mentioned that a scene before the meeting where he goes to an acquaintance's house stands out to me to showcase the real situation with race in the U.S. especially in the South where ideas and beliefs are not progressive and this is something that Jim and other black people have had face and a situation that is still present to some degree even today. Finally we go to Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr. in an Academy Award nominated role) who is a singer, songwriter and entrepreneur. We see that has quite a bit of success in his career but also suffers from the stresses of being a black man and how it becomes a challenge to perform in a world that caters to white audiences. This is called into question at the meeting and tensions arise because of this as Sam has to defend his work all while realizing that he might need a change of direction when it comes to being successful in the music world as well as being a source of pride and influence for black people as well. He starts going in that direction later with the song "A Change is Gonna Come" which was influenced by real life events and displays the struggle that he and others went through. Of course, Sam's situation presents up with a point one has to think about: What does it take to be successful and how can one stay true to their own roots? It is a tough balancing act but Sam at least makes an attempt to do that later in the movie. One Night in Miami... is a brilliant film from Regina King in her directorial debut. She took some of what she learned as a performer and put it into this movie which was based from the play of the same name from Kemp Powers. She is able to keep the essence of the original story and bring it to the screen which shows the challenges these four individuals go through as they are at a critical turning point in their lives and have to move forward in their own ways all while reflecting on their accomplishments. Even though it is fictional it feels like these four people could have met and talked about these tough topics in the 1960s which was a tipping point for recognition for people of color, especially black people as they strived to be treated equal and needing to look up to various figures to deliver that promise. In this case these four men even if their beliefs varied and they worked toward that goal in different ways.
@DaisukeBeppu
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much again for yet another wonderful write up. Cheers Stealthborn as always.
@Jared_Wignall
2 жыл бұрын
I’m going to be honest, I’ve not actually heard of this film until now, not sure why that is but it sounds interesting from what you’re saying. I guess I was sort of looking at other films at the time this film came out as to why it wasn’t on my radar. Thank you for talking about this and the other releases Daisuke, have a great day! Take care!
@DaisukeBeppu
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much. I too heard about this film only recently.
@xxxWolFangxxx
2 жыл бұрын
Watched this last night and enjoyed it. Very glad to have your analysis to follow it up
@DaisukeBeppu
2 жыл бұрын
I am very happy to hear that. Yes, this is a very interesting film and I too am glad that Criterion released as it was helpful for me to learn more about it (I had not known about it beforehand). Cheers and warmest regards.
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