Our take
This stagelike historical drama is about a meeting between Malcolm X, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Muhammad Ali, the night Ali became world champion and announced he became Muslim.
And here is the thing: Malcolm X and Muhammed Ali have been portrayed many times in film, but never with this much nuance. Their relationship with each other is often frictional and their relationship to their faith is recognizable: they’re not always sure about it, and they take breaks.
Ali smuggles alcohol without Malcolm knowing, Malcolm is accused of being obsessed with celebrity (and later of colorism), Jim Brown is insecure about being an actor, and Sam Cooke wishes he wrote a Bob Dylan song.
What it won
Oscars
3 noms
Golden Globes
3 noms
BAFTA
1 nom
SAG Awards
2 noms
DGA
1 nom
Spirit Awards
1 win
WGA
1 nom
Nat. Board of Review
1 win
The story
In the aftermath of Cassius Clay's defeat of Sonny Liston in 1964, the boxer meets with Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown to change the course of history in the segregated South.
Elsewhere
"The fervent performances, which King passionately and probingly spotlights, match the momentousness of the high-stakes dialectical wrangling."
— Richard Brody
"If someone stands up to go to the door in this movie, it's an event. If they step outside for a breath of air, it's a cataclysm."
— Helen Shaw
The details
Who picked it
Bilal Zouheir is the founder of A Good Movie to Watch. He is based in the US and a member of the Nevada Film Critics Society. He grew up in Morocco, where he learned English from watching movies. Bilal's work with A Good Movie to Watch is focused on offering an alternative to streaming algorithms, which are often used as commercial tools by streaming services.
