A review by Brooks Rich
Starting Summer of Spike off with a film I think is not quite in the pantheon of his most well known films like Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, and most recently BlackKKlansman. I kind of separate Lee's early works into two categories, before Malcolm X and after Malcolm X, which I think was his big breakout. Do the Right Thing put him on the map and Malcolm X made him big. Mo' Better Blues is a solid film in between them.
Denzel Washington plays Bleek Gilliam, a trumpet player and the leader of a jazz group called the Bleek Quintet. The group is managed by Bleek's friend Giant, played by Lee himself. The other group members want to fire Giant as they feel he isn't negotiating for them properly. Bleek finds himself constantly defending his friend, eventually getting involved with Giant's gambling problem. He is also in a feud with Shadow, a member of the quintet, played by Wesley Snipes, who is fantastic in this film, who wants to go out on his own. Meanwhile Bleek tries to balance his romantic relationships with two different women.
This film has three things going for it. First off is the soundtrack, a soulful jazz score composed by Bill Lee and featuring works by the Branford Marsalis quartet and Terence Blanchard, who plays all of Bleek's songs on trumpets. The soundtrack is a constant presence in the film but it never overshadows what is going on, which a good soundtrack should do. The second of course is Denzel, starring in his first film with Lee. I don't know if the Bleek character works without Denzel, who brings his usual charisma to the role. Denzel is still relatively early in his career here and Bleek is an interesting character for him, leading nicely into what is easily Denzel's best performance in Malcolm X.
The third and most important thing going for this film is Lee's direction. Lee always uses interesting camera angles and fluid editing to keep his films going. Even when it's just talking scenes or a party scene for example in a smoky club, the camera is always moving around, finding news ways to shoot the action. Mo' Better Blues never feels stagnant because of this and also maintains a feeling of freshness. I don't think Lee gets the credit he deserves for how good he is with the camera. Props to him and cinematographer Ernest Dickerson.
I love this film. I really do. It's easily my second favorite Spike Lee film and maybe my favorite film about jazz. If you've never seen it, track it down and give it a watch.
Starting Summer of Spike off with a film I think is not quite in the pantheon of his most well known films like Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, and most recently BlackKKlansman. I kind of separate Lee's early works into two categories, before Malcolm X and after Malcolm X, which I think was his big breakout. Do the Right Thing put him on the map and Malcolm X made him big. Mo' Better Blues is a solid film in between them.
Denzel Washington plays Bleek Gilliam, a trumpet player and the leader of a jazz group called the Bleek Quintet. The group is managed by Bleek's friend Giant, played by Lee himself. The other group members want to fire Giant as they feel he isn't negotiating for them properly. Bleek finds himself constantly defending his friend, eventually getting involved with Giant's gambling problem. He is also in a feud with Shadow, a member of the quintet, played by Wesley Snipes, who is fantastic in this film, who wants to go out on his own. Meanwhile Bleek tries to balance his romantic relationships with two different women.
This film has three things going for it. First off is the soundtrack, a soulful jazz score composed by Bill Lee and featuring works by the Branford Marsalis quartet and Terence Blanchard, who plays all of Bleek's songs on trumpets. The soundtrack is a constant presence in the film but it never overshadows what is going on, which a good soundtrack should do. The second of course is Denzel, starring in his first film with Lee. I don't know if the Bleek character works without Denzel, who brings his usual charisma to the role. Denzel is still relatively early in his career here and Bleek is an interesting character for him, leading nicely into what is easily Denzel's best performance in Malcolm X.
The third and most important thing going for this film is Lee's direction. Lee always uses interesting camera angles and fluid editing to keep his films going. Even when it's just talking scenes or a party scene for example in a smoky club, the camera is always moving around, finding news ways to shoot the action. Mo' Better Blues never feels stagnant because of this and also maintains a feeling of freshness. I don't think Lee gets the credit he deserves for how good he is with the camera. Props to him and cinematographer Ernest Dickerson.
I love this film. I really do. It's easily my second favorite Spike Lee film and maybe my favorite film about jazz. If you've never seen it, track it down and give it a watch.
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