On September 5, 2024, Peacock released 'Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist', which has received predominantly positive reviews from critics, currently holding at 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the miniseries, "In a city bursting with fight night anticipation, streetwise hustler Gordon "Chicken Man" Williams plants himself at the center of the action. His big ambitions, and even bigger talk, put him on a collision course with ruthless criminals, each consumed by their own insatiable hunger for the spoils of the event. As dawn breaks on a city reeling from the heist, JD Hudson, a pioneering Black detective, is thrust into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse as the body count rises. With time running out, JD and Chicken Man race against the clock to clear Chicken's name and survive the dangerous forces closing in." The ensemble cast includes Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, Don Cheadle, and Terrence Howard. Read the full review round-up below.
Julian Lytle of RIOTUS praises the drama, stating, "Ali, Crime, and Ambition: ‘Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist’ Is a Must-Watch Miniseries" Adding, "Cheadle is great here, but after seeing him as an actor for thirty years, he’s always good. He has excellent onscreen scenes with Hart and later Jackson, who some might be used to because of the MCU, but his character is very much just as empathetic as Hart’s Chicken Man, even if you’re on some F*** the Police ethos. Taraji P. Henson plays Vivian Thomas, who is Chicken’s hustle partner and mistress. At the same time, he’s married and has this Black working-class suburban dreamlife of sorts elsewhere; Vivian is very much his real partner in life up until now. Henson plays a character that feels familiar for her, at least for the viewer, and I wish there were a bit more to her overall, but Henson is enjoyable to watch on screen and has a good arc throughout the entirety of the series. She’s great in many of the scenes she’s in with her co-stars, and that’s something you can say with the whole cast."
Terrell Smith of What To Watch says, "When Peacock announced the cast of Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, it was understandably easy to get excited about the limited series without even knowing its premise. After all, you have four Oscar nominees in Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, Don Cheadle and Terrence Howard, and arguably one of the most marketable men in Hollywood, Kevin Hart, leading an A-list cast. Plus, there was the safe assumption that there would be tons of on-screen chemistry given a few of the stars had previously worked together. WTW had it pegged as one of our most anticipated fall TV shows. Yet, with all this star power and assumed chemistry, the performances offered in Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist were disappointingly just solid. To be clear, the performances weren't horrible by any means. However, it just seemed as if the stars could be replaced with other actors and my fascination with the series would relatively remain the same."
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| Photo by Viktor Hanacek on picjumbo |
Carla Meyer of San Francisco Chronicle notes, "Shaye Ogbonna and its talented directors, including former Vallejo resident Craig Brewer (“Hustle & Flow”), rarely let the proceedings grow self-indulgent the way those other all-star heist stories featuring Cheadle (the “Ocean’s” movies) often did."
AV Club's Josh Spiegel writes, "The ingredients that make up the new limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist will be all too familiar to anyone who’s paying attention to this TV moment. The eight-episode series is inspired by a true-crime podcast that itself was an unearthing of a shocking robbery connected to Muhammad Ali’s return to boxing in 1970. It’s available on Peacock, one of a host of streaming services continuing to battle for audience attention. It boasts a recognizable ensemble cast, as well as a well-known director and producer. It starts in medias res to potentially amplify the tension and make the audience wonder how its antihero lead could wind up with a gun in his face. And it is, as is almost a requirement with new shows, at least two or three episodes too long—to the point of raising the question of why the series exists at all. The story it tells is indeed fascinating, but at heart, its intent is to prove that A-list actor and stand-up Kevin Hart has a secret well of dramatic talent. And in that respect, it’s a miss."
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