Watchable but not a classic! 4/10

leonblackwood

Review: I've never really been a big fan of Spike Lee's movies, mainly because I don't like his directing and writing methods, and his pro-black message was used to death but I thought that it would be good to see how far Denzel Washington has come in his career. He definitely gave this movie this all, and the instruments were played very well by the top actors but I got a bit fed up with the flow of the movie because it seemed to be going round in circles. It wasn't as pro-black and most of Spike Lee's earlier movies, thank God but it did seem extremely dated, and for a two hour movie, nothing really happened. For those of you who don't remember the plot, the film is based around a trumpet player, Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington), who regularly plays in a club with his band, and is managed by his best friend, Giant (Spike Lee), who is addicted to gambling and hasn't paid the band for a long time. As Bleek is the leader of the band, everyone turns to him for there wages, knowing that there manager is useless but Bleek stays loyal to his friend, whilst trying to hold a relationship with Indigo (Joie Lee) and Clarke (Cynda Williams). With the debt collectors constantly after Giant, Bleek tries to steer him in the right direction but after a heated alteration outside the club, Bleek's life is changed forever and his band decide to go it alone. That is the basis of the storyline, which did have some emotional moments but nothing memorable. Wesley Snipes (Shadow), was the same as he is in a lot of his movies and the rest of the cast were very average but Denzel stood out from the rest, and I haven't seen him show this side of his acting skills since this movie. With that aside, I still wasn't impressed with the film, in this day and age but it was good to see some top black actors together on screen, before they hit the big time. Average!

Round-Up: I'm not a total Spike Lee hater, because I did enjoy Inside Man, 25th Hour, The Original Kings Of Comedy, Summer of Sam and Clockers but the rest of his projects, really wasn't my cup of tea. Do the Right Thing was a big deal when it was released in 1989, mainly because of it's pro-black message and the great soundtrack, which went down well in the urban market but he seemed to get a bit big headed after releasing Jungle Fever, Malcolm X and Crooklyn. He also had a few scraps with fellow directors in the media, and his movies started to take less money at the box office, mainly because people was getting a bit fed up with the same theme, so after releasing Girl 6 and He Got Game, he decided to make a movie about true events called Summer Of Sam. 25th Hour was also a change of direction for Spike Lee, and he started to turn his career to TV for a while. He still was making controversial comments in the media, and after his poor attempt of a remake of Oldboy in 2013, which lost the studio $25million, he has been out of the limelight for some time. Personally, I think that he is his worse enemy, like Quentin Taratino and Mel Gibson, because they are known for the wrong reasons. They are all talented directors but there mouth seems to get them in trouble. Anyway, it's a watchable movie but not a classic.

Budget: $10million Worldwide Gross: $16million

I recommend this movie to people who are into their music/romance/dramas, starring Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito, Robin Harris, Joie Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, Cynda Williams, Nicholas Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson, Charlie Murphy and Doug E. Doug. 4/10

score 4/10

leonblackwood 26 November 2016

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3587036/