Robbery Story You Won’t Believe Is Real

The best true stories are the ones you can’t believe are real.

That’s how you’ll feel if you watch Peacock’s “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist” (streaming Thursday, ★★★ out of four), which dramatizes the story of an armed robbery at a “Black Mafia”-sponsored party in Atlanta in 1970. Masked men held gangsters at gunpoint, stealing their cash and jewelry at an afterparty celebrating Muhammad Ali’s comeback fight against Jerry Quarry. It’s like if a less-than-nice Ocean’s Eleven crew robbed Tony Soprano and Soprano went to war, all against the backdrop of the racist ’70s South. And it all really happened.

With a ridiculously star-studded cast including Kevin Hart, Don Cheadle, Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard and Samuel L. Jackson, “Fight Night” is an ambitious story with a long list of characters. The series starts off slow but picks up speed from the start of the second episode. With all the pieces in place, creator Shaye Ogbonna (“The Chi”) crafts a riveting crime drama that’s as emotional as it is viscerally violent.

Lest you think this is an overly familiar heist story, this isn’t your typical lighthearted tale: the thieves aren’t the good guys. They’re actually pretty despicable, and their actions unleash a wave of violence throughout the black criminal underworld. Instead of rooting for the thieves, you’re rooting for Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams (Hart), a small-time businessman who organized the ill-fated afterparty with his partner Vivian (Henson). He wanted to prove his management potential to big-time mobsters like Frank Moten (Jackson), and it all went horribly wrong. Chicken had nothing to do with the theft, but he’s having trouble convincing his bosses. Now Chicken must find the real perpetrators before Moten does.

Also on the case is Detective J.D. Hudson (Cheadle), one of the first black officers in an integrated Atlanta police department and a man liked neither by his white colleagues nor by the black citizens he polices. Hudson spends the first half of the series as a bodyguard for Ali (Dexter Darden), protecting him from a city that wants nothing to do with the black boxer. Some of the best parts of “Fight Night” are the quiet conversations between Hudson and Ali, two diametrically opposed men who see the world and their own black identity in very different ways.

But the real meat of “Fight Night” is the heist and its aftermath, harsh reminders that armed robbery isn’t as fun as Danny Ocean would have you believe. There’s pain, trauma and death as the crime fuels a vengeful Moten to rain hellfire on Atlanta. Some TV projects lure A-list talent and then give their big-screen actors nothing to work with, but “Fight Night” doesn’t make the mistake of wasting Jackson and co. There’s enough scenery for everyone to chew on, and they’ve all got their teeth knocked out.

Henson is another standout, playing a character who dresses as outrageously as her iconic Cookie Lyon from Fox’s “Empire,” but is a much more subdued personality than the actress is usually called upon to portray. She can be subtle and bold. Hart brings his comedic chops to Chicken, but it’s all gallows humor as the character realizes he can’t wriggle out of this nightmare.

It’s not enough to tell a stranger-than-fiction true story to make a limited series like this sing; there has to be depth to the characters and context. “Fight Night” weaves it all together beautifully after its sluggish start, making it one of the most addictive shows of the year.

You may not be cheering for the thieves this time, but you can’t take your eyes off the chaos they’re causing.