One Night In Miami Review - 8 Ups & 0 Downs
5. Kingsley Ben-Adir's Malcolm X
It's hard to take on a role that encapsulates a man that helped shape 20th century America, even harder when that role has previously been defined by one Denzel Washington, but Kingsley Ben-Adir finds a way to bring Malcolm X's character to One Night In Miami without imitation or mimicry.
Ben-Adir brings across X's ideology with a sense of real belief and presence, he isn't stronger or smarter than the rest, he is just held up by what he knows to be true. Looking at X's place in that room, he is the instigator, the cultist (in a way) trying to bring his message across to people that push back and make him think twice about what he is saying and believing.
The scene in which he and Sam Cooke discuss JFK and Bob Dylan is as real and fully open as any that has depicted Malcolm X. Throughout the film it is his relationship with Cooke that defines the night that they spend together, they are friends, they are willing to point out the other's flaws, but in the end, they are never going to agree with one another on their own paths.