Review by C.J. Bunce
It seems impossible this series even got made. At first blush Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist just sounds goofy. Then you see that cast list, which you’d normally find on a theater marquee: Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Teraji P. Henson, and Terrence Howard. But other names you should probably take away are creator Shaye Ogbonna, Ernesto Martino for his costumes, Toni Barton and Mark Dillon for the production and art design, and Lawrence Davis for that hair. This series has it all, mainly from its 1970 throwbacks and that cast, especially Hart and Cheadle, who make an unlikely but perfect buddy cop team-up.
But Hart doesn’t actually play a cop. Hart plays Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams, a slick and successful grifter who gets in over his head in suburban Atlanta in October 1970 when he sets up a party for the “Black Mafia,” a celebration to follow the real-life comeback fight of Muhammad Ali after Ali dodged the draft. The mob is led by Samuel L. Jackson as elder gangster Frank Moten, but other big city mob bosses on his heels show up for the fight and party, too, like Terrence Howard as Cadillac Richie, plus a hilariously motley group of other quirky city bosses.
Chicken sets up the party with long-time grifter pal Vivian, played by Taraji P. Henson, who makes a great Pam Grier follow-up in any of her 1970s roles. Someone slighted by Frank decides to crash the party, looting all the attendees, including the cash and jewelry-heavy mob bosses, to the total of seven figures–the heist of the title. Suddenly Chicken Man and Vivian become targets, and Chicken must find and deliver the real thieves before he’s next in line on Frank and friends’ hit lists.
Over eight episodes viewers get to know three of the robbers: Sinqua Walls as Mac Rogers, Myles Bullock as Willie Back, and Jalyn Hall as Mac’s underling, the young Baby Ray. They are heavily pursued by Don Cheadle as J.D. Hudson, a good cop who is disrespected both by the white establishment boys in blue because he is black and the black community who sees him as a traitor.
Hudson has dealt with Chicken Man before, in fact he put Chicken in the slammer years ago. So when they’re forced to work together to solve the mystery of who was really behind the heist and backing this local trio of minor criminals, that’s when the magic happens. Hart has played this kind of off-the-wall sad-sack misfit before, but it seems like it’s all been building up to this role. And Cheadle has been the straight arrow before, too. Yet here he gets to be that singular hero the MCU never let him be in an actual supersuit. Come Emmy Award time, Cheadle is my pick for an acting nod, only slightly nudging aside Hart’s performance.
Henson and Howard get opportunities to shine, but Henson’s character is frequently relegated to the role of victim–exploited and abused in major scenes. She finally reasserts her power in the final episodes, making some savvy career moves. In fact, the only slip of the series is not finding a way to give women more to do in this male-heavy cast. Without a doubt this is Terrence Howard’s best performance. His mob boss is even more of a dastardly villain than Jackson, who also summons some of his own past bad guys for this performance. Clearly this is a dream team of actors and they look like they had a good time making it.
Smaller supporting roles went to Atkins Estimond as an intermediary between Chicken and Frank, Artrece Johnson as Chicken’s wife, Teresa Celeste as one of Vivian’s badass friends, and Chloe Bailey as inside woman for the thieves. We briefly get a Muhammad Ali appearance (Dexter Darden looks and sounds little like the real thing but it’s good enough). But the fight is brief and the least interesting part of the show. If you lived in the early 1970s you’ll notice how perfect the costumes and sets are, with all the right cars for average people in the neighborhood. And those wigs really sell the series, especially the variety of Afros. They are pristine matches from the era. Will this series be responsible for bringing some of that style back?
Watch for some great design elements in the presentation of the show, like split screens, vintage reel imagery, and clever wipes to call back the 1970s film experience. The opening title scenes and accompanying theme are the best of any show this year. This is the rare series that probably is fine stretched into eight episodes instead of delivered as a two-hour movie.
The story (billed as a true story but that doesn’t really matter) is fresh and exciting, the twists surprising and fun. What’s really real is disclosed in a denouement in the final episode, after a sweet, sweet finish. The show altogether feels and sounds authentic (the era pop music helps). It does have the expected profanity of crime world 1970s, but the production leaves out the nudity and sex you’d find if this were an HBO/Max, Starz, or Apple show. People are killed, but it doesn’t dwell on blood or guts. And all that scores extra points. The series is a cut above the actual Blaxploitation movies of the era that this show mimics.
It’s not the kind of series with a second season–this is one and done–so sit back and enjoy it all now. All eight episodes of Fight Night are now streaming on Peacock.
