On February 25th, 1964 Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) has just claimed the world heavyweight title at the Miami Beach Convention Centre. To celebrate he spends the evening with three friends; Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adair), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) and Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) 

One Night In Miami is a fictional account of a real evening, based on the play by Kemp Powers, who also wrote the screenplay for this film. It is acclaimed actress Regina King’s feature directorial debut. It features four brilliant central performances and covers incredibly important issues related to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. But somehow I struggled to get past the staginess of the conceit and did not really enjoy the film. 

Less than a year after the events of this evening both Malcom X and Sam Cooke would be dead. They, along with NFL superstar Brown and Ali all had responsibilities in the Civil Rights Movement and the films main focus is then discussing that role, the pressures that it brings and how best to do good. Every now and then sparks will fly before settling back down again to the conversation at hand. 

The majority of the film takes place in a motel room with the four leads. When it does venture outside of the room it gains momentum but it does not venture out for long. Unlike Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom it just does not escape its stage roots.