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The pull of history and considerable topicality sells “One Night in Miami…” at Rogue Machine. Although this well appointed dramedy about what might have gone down in the Hampton House hotel the night that Cassius Clay became world heavyweight champion slightly overdoes the 20/20 hindsight, that doesn’t stop it from grabbing our imaginations.
Inspired by the real-life meeting of Clay, singer Sam Cooke, football star Jim Brown and civil-rights leader Malcolm X on Feb. 25, 1964, playwright Kemp Powers weaves the specifics of their personalities into an engrossing scenario.
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A central debate about African American assimilation versus revolution arises between Cooke (Ty Jones) and Malcolm X (Jason Delane), the latter of whom decries the former’s selling out to white audiences instead of giving his voice to the movement. Cooke, however, has an alternate, equally convincing take on subverting the system.
Writer Kemp Powers and star Leslie Odom Jr. explain the decision to turn a lost Sam Cooke performance into one of the film's most resonant, hopeful moments.