Starring Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Joie Lee, and Wesley Snipes
Directed by Spike Lee
Music and Lyrics by various
School Daze was the first time Spike Jones made a musical, but it would be far from the last. Two years later, he traded pop and rap for smoky jazz halls and a more intimate plot revolving around a driven musician and how his bad decisions impact his relationships and his career. This would also be his first of six movies to date featuring Denzel Washington, just as he was beginning his career as one of the most beloved and intense stars in Hollywood. How does the story of that musician and his band look nowadays? Let's begin with the young Bleek Gilliam in 1969, whose mother is so obsessed with him learning the trumpet, she refuses to let him out to play with his friends, and find out...
The Story: Twenty years later, the adult Bleek (Washington) is the head of a popular jazz quintet with a regular gig at a Brooklyn jazz club. He does like his girlfriend Indigo (Joie Lee), but he's interested in other women, too, and isn't ready to settle down. The band's manager Giant (Spike Lee) is having his own trouble paying off gambling debts. Bleek wants a better contract, but the owners of the club insist Giant locked them into their current deal.
Bleek's not doing so well with the ladies, either. He tries dating Indigo and Clarke Bentancourt (Cynda Williams) at the same time, only to buy them the same dress and call them by the wrong names. Doesn't help that his saxophonist Shadow Henderson (Wesley Snipes) loves Clarke, too, and is gunning for more solos and more respect. He finally fires Shadow after a confrontation, then Giant when he learns about his gambling. He still can't help intervening when the loan sharks attack Giant...but his injury in the ensuing fight leads him to lose his career and rethink his life choices.
The Song and Dance: Washington and the music are the things here. They both have an excellent showcase, whether Washington is bouncing heedlessly between the women in his life, or Jones is capturing the smoke and sweat and heat of small-time jazz clubs. Fans of Bradford Marsalis and his groups will really get a kick out of this. Some of his music is sensational, especially the numbers mid-way through.
Favorite Number: Our first song at the club is "Say Hey," which gives us a glimpse of what Bleek is doing as an adult and Giant's giant problems with gambling. Other Marsalis jazz compositions heard at the club include "Knocked Out of the Box," "Again, Never" (which was nominated for a Grammy), and the title song. "Pop Top 40" is Washington and Snipes parodying the then-popular rap and R&B culture. "Beneath the Underdog" is the last song Bleek does before the brawl in the alley that ends his career. "A Jazz Thing" is the song he tries to play along with after he returns. Williams finally gets her chance to sing with a band with the sultry "Harlem Nocturne."
Trivia: Washington and Snipes trained to mimic Terrance Blanchard and Donald Harrison's playing. They admitted that they were never going to be virtuoso players, but they were able to mimic the men very well.
Dedicated to character actor and comedian Robin Harris, who died shortly after the film's completion.
Joie Lee is Spike Lee's sister. During the wedding scenes, she's given away by her actual father Bill Lee.
What I Don't Like: For all the focus on Washington's character, I actually wish there was even more on his troubles. Giant is almost more of a lead character than he is, especially mid-way through when the movie has shifted gears to focus on his problems with the loan sharks. Lee's not a bad actor, but he's not at the level of either Snipes or Washington. Also, as in many of Lee's earlier films, the women are treated rather badly. They both deserve better than these jazz-obsessed jerks give them, and in real life, I doubt either would have gone back to Bleek, no matter how badly he wanted to be saved.
The Big Finale: If you're a fan of Washington, Snipes, or Marsalis' or Lee's other work, you'll want to join Bleek and his quintet onstage for this love letter to smooth jazz and those who make the music happen.
Home Media: Easily found in all formats.
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