One Night in Miami Discussion Questions and One Night in Miami Parent Review written by the Ent on 1/15/21. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Watch
Movie: One Night in Miami (Based on the play of the same name)
Rating: R
Genre: Fictional biopic, drama
Age suggested : 14+ (with parental guidance)
Release Date: December 25th, 2020 (in theaters)
Streaming Service: Amazon Prime (January 2020)
Themes: Responsibility with power, race relations, balance of achievement and accomplishments
Warnings: Several instances of cussing (F words, sh*t), crude statements of sexuality, drinking and smoking
Quick Summary:
On the night of February 25th, 1964, four of the more influential figures of the 60’s meet in order to discuss the complexities and responsibilities of being black figureheads and leaders during the civil rights movement. This movie follows the four main characters: Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali), Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X, leading up to that day.
It’s a well made movie, and a good one! Not entirely historically accurate, but definitely accurate enough to get a picture of what these four experienced and fought for. And a good one to use when studying the Civil Rights movement or in anti-racist learning but not one I personally would suggest for the classroom because of the well earned R rating. I would suggest it for teens and parents though.
One Night in Miami Parent Review
-Is One Night in Miami appropriate?-
This movie definitely has it’s rough edges with a fair amount of language and sexual discussion. With that said, the importance of the film outweighs these negatives. We would suggest watching with kids fourteen and up- as well as discussing it together afterwards! Which is why we have a One Night in Miami discussion guide down for you below, just keep reading!
-Is One Night in Miami Historically Accurate?-
The movie is not entirely historically accurate. In large part because there isn’t a lot known about their conversation in the hotel. But it is absolutely historically accurate enough to use to talk about the lives of these four men and the time that they led during. Here’s a great article from the Smithsonian on the accuracy of the play and movie.
–Why Watch One Night in Miami-
One Night in Miami provides an interesting insight to an extremely important time in American history. It takes a deep dive into the concept of social responsibility, especially when you’re in a leadership role. Despite the real life timeline being over fifty years ago, this movie still is dealing with questions that are very important today. It also provides very interesting back stories and points of discussion for four very famous and influential black figures.
-Characters and Plot of One Night in Miami-
One Night in Miami is a very character driven movie. The movie is able to capture the feel of the stage play setting while also being an engrossing movie. The overall plot simply follows the four main protagonists as they are each living their lives and then meet up one night to discuss beliefs and ideas. We will dive into each character and the general story around them below.
–-Jim Brown–
Played well by Aldis Hodge (Who else misses Leverage?!). Jim Brown, in beginning of this movie, is a football player who is having to find the balance of being an idol to many white people (as long as he wins his games) while also being treated poorly by them. This struggle is depicted so well in a scene towards the beginning of the movie where he’s speaking to someone who is proud of his performance on the field but won’t even let him into his house to help move a piece of furniture. He’s still considered to be one of the best football players of all time. He is the only one of the four still alive today.
–Sam Cooke–
Played well by Leslie Odom Jr. (Arron Burr in Hamilton- find our full review and curriculum for Hamilton HERE!) Sam Cooke is starting his career as a producer and singer. But in order to become anything in the music business, he has to appeal to the white audience. He is called out on his non-confrontational lyrics despite having one of the largest platforms of the group. And while he actually wrote this song before the Miami meeting in real life- it’s still powerful. He was murdered only a few months after this movie takes place.
–Cassius Clay-–
Played well by Eli Goree- Cassius Clay, more popularly known as Muhammad Ali these days, is in the midst of reigning as boxing’s World Heavyweight champion. This movie takes place on the day of one of his most popular matches (with Sonny Liston). Clay’s story in the movie is about finding the balance of being a personality that the paying white crowd want to see lose while also being a champion that his black community would be proud of. Muhammed Ali took up many causes throughout his life and is considered to be one of the best boxers.
–Malcolm X-–
Malcolm X is one of the most popular civil rights and human rights activists in history. And many of us are just figuring out that what we learned about him in our history books was wrong. Played well by Kingsley Bin-Adir, in this movie, Malcom X is in constant turmoil over how to help guide his friends (and his own) platforms for social good. If he could safely move away from the Islamic movement and how far he could get involved in the movement for civil rights without fearing for his family. His most poignant moments are the small ones in which he believes that he will be assassinated (Which he was about a year after the events of this movie).
One Night in Miami Discussion Questions
- Which of the 4 main characters did you learn the most about? Who you were you most familiar with going into it?
- How is this movie applicable to issues going on today? How has the world improved since these events?
- What were the motivations and goals for each character? How did their actions play into their goals
- Do you have friends that you can confide in and that motivate you? If not, who can you be that friend for?
- How is your religion and your beliefs different than a gang?
- How can we support others with our belongings and words?
- Do you feel responsible for other people? How does this affect your actions?
- Why was Islam, as a religion and group, so appealing to people who felt like the Civil Rights Movement wasn’t going anywhere or getting enough done?
***It’s really important here that we don’t further racist narratives here. A lot of my view of Islam has been shaped by a racist post 9-11 narrative. Islam is not a violent religion.*** - Had you previously heard anything positive about Malcolm X?
- What was one thing that stuck with you from the movie?
If you enjoyed our One Night in Miami Discussion Questions and review, check out these posts:
-Out other Family Friendly Amazon Prime Suggestions
–Talking your Teen Through Just Mercy and FREE CURRICULUM
-The Hate U Give Review and Curriculum
-Our year of anti-racism book study curriculum is coming soon!
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