- Grade: C+
- Recommend: 55%
Plot (Non-Spoiling)
This American drama film, adapted from the 2013 play of the same name, focuses on a closed meeting between four prominent African-American men of 1964: Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) (played by Eli Goree), Malcolm X (played by Kingsley Ben-Adir), Jim Brown (played by Aldis Hodge), and Sam Cooke (played by Leslie Odom Jr.), taking place immediately after Ali’s historic February 25th title-winning bout against Sonny Liston. Instead of celebrating at numerous parties in Miami, Ali chooses to talk privately with three of his closest friends in a dingy hotel room. What was actually said is still unknown, so the film outlines a completely fictional account of the events which transpired that night. The four men engage in a prolonged debate over the direction of the country and themselves.
Diversity
All the main characters in this film were real people, so the mostly POC (67% POC) and male (83% male) cast accurately represents the people around Muhammad Ali at the time of his victory against Sonny Liston. Behind the camera, where there is no limit on diversity, the numbers were less diverse in race (57% white), but more diverse in gender (71% male) among the director, writers, and producers. There was not much of a female presence at all in the film as it focused solely on conflicts between the four men, but the film was directed by a woman (Regina King).
Review
This film started out with the line, “Based on True Events.” If you see this, keep in mind that usually 80-90% of the scenes/dialogue didn’t happen. The acting was great in this film and Goree, Ben-Adir, and Odom Jr. actually looked like their characters as well. Malcolm X’s views before his Muslim pilgrimage in Mecca were also well represented. There were many scenes that made no sense, where a character, especially Ali, would walk in public after the fight and wouldn’t attract basic attention, let alone a crowd. Furthermore, the dialogue got repetitive in the later scenes to fill up time. This film was far too long (114 minutes), as numerous arguments were stretched too far, reducing their impact on the audience. There is also no way someone can watch and completely understand this film without having background knowledge of the four men. When it comes to recommending the film, it’s not something that is completely educational. It did offer a decent insight into the ideologies of the men and past injustices they’ve faced, but it also overlooked their flaws, especially Brown and Cooke, and didn’t have excellent realism.
