One Night in Miami- Magnificent Mix of Manhood & Mirth

**No spoilers**

If walls could talk, they would sigh wistfully at this brilliant portrayal of four friends at the climax of their glory days. One Night In Miami breathes authentic personhood into the well-known public personas of Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, Muhammad Ali, and Jim Brown. Within the confines of a motel property, the cast and camera create a fully engrossing portrait of a moment in time, evoking surreal feelings of “being there” not unalike from the intimate, foreboding emotions captured in da Vinci’s The Last Supper.

A truly stand-out film, the sultry yet exhilarating atmosphere of Miami sets the stage for the range of distinct roles perfectly pitched by the cast, who seamlessly express the full range of complex insights and instinctive reactions of mature, self-made men sharing deeply private thoughts. Their banter and arguments rise and flow naturally in a rhythmic conversation, with the four men brazenly expressing themselves, pointing out each other’s flaws, flying into rages, casually philosophizing, reminiscing, reflecting, and cooling off.

The witty dialogue flows freely, easily fitting the shape of each character’s persona, meshing convicted articulations with unguarded stammers and sighs that only occur while talking among close, comfortable friends. The actors deliver flawless vocal intonations perfectly imitating the sonorous drawls of Brown and X, the languorous croon of Cooke’s musical voice, and the excitable, boldly accented ramblings of Ali.

Cocooning these four larger-than-life icons in a somewhat cramped motel environment was a directorial triumph. The setting incited nail-biting tension and conflict while allowing enough breathing room for the characters to both physically and emotionally shift without anyone stealing the show or fading into a corner. The tight environment and balanced pacing, coming in hard waves and soft laps, should inspire filmmakers to capitalize on limited locations.

While this production was based on a stage play, it feels completely like a movie - cinematic and stylized. Visually, the cinematography captures the sepia tinged hue of the 60’s while charged with dynamic angling and framing that captures the facial contours and subtle gestures in new, interesting ways while giving silent clues and cues about the fates of these star-crossed men.

This story is, at heart, a bromance in its most dramatic and poignant form - four men in their prime at a crossroads they would never again come to as a quartet. If this film makes any error, it was, perhaps, in unnecessarily showing incidental scenes concerning Malcolm X and Jim Brown, which were awkwardly staged and superfluous in the aftermath of a perfectly balanced ensemble cast with strong supporting actors. Very rarely do we get to see 6 men, especially actors of color, carry a dramatic production to such heights.

One Night in Miami is a very good length. But I still wished it was One Neverending Night in Miami to more fully enjoy the deeply personal meeting of four famous men blithely enjoying a moment, fortuitously positioned, and now cinematically envisioned as one of the most momentous in history.

Watch One Night in Miami on Amazon Prime.