Mo' Better Blues
In Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues, the young Brooklyn jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington) enjoys a life of laid-back hedonism. Bleek, who whiles away the afternoons practicing, leads his quintet through nightly sets at a plush local club and Ping-Pongs between two women who adore him — the modest, devoted Indigo (played by the director’s sister, Joie Lee, who bears a disarming resemblance to Prince), and Clarke (Cynda Williams), a flirtatious beauty who sees right through him. Both women complain that Bleek is selfish, and they’re right. Yet he’s not a bastard. He simply has no concept of anything outside his own pleasure centers. He is, first and foremost, a musician — and, like so many of his ilk, he’s a closed circuit, a full-time connoisseur of the sounds in his head (and the clamorings of his libido).
Thus far, Spike Lee has made movies as a live-wire sociologist. Last year’s Do the Right Thing was, for all its flair and attack, a kind of mesmerizing cartoon of urban-racial strife. Lee could dig deep inside contemporary racial attitudes because his film was about attitudes. That was its strength and its limitation. What Lee hasn’t do
&#;Mo&#; Better Blues&#; at Spike Lee&#;s Fourth Joint, as Told by Female Leads Cynda Williams and Joie Lee
Spike Lee made his fourth film, &#;Mo&#; Better Blues,&#; just over 30 years ago. Although less recognized than other titles in his oeuvre (&#;Do the Right Thing&#; was released in ), it was an evocative take on moody jazz films, minus the darkness and despair, and it proved an intriguing contrast to Lee&#;s more provocative titles.
Denzel Washington stars as dedicated trumpeter Bleek Gilliam, whose emotional immaturity eventually gets him into career-ending trouble. Gilliam headlines a jazz quintet at a popular New York City club. The band is thriving, and Gilliam has his choice of lovers. Problems arise when he is forced to make decisions concerning his best friend and manager Giant (Spike Lee), and his affairs with two women, schoolteacher Indigo (Joie Lee) and aspiring singer Clarke (Cynda Williams).
It was the first collaboration between Washington and Lee, launching a multi-decade actor-director relationship. Washington gives a typically charismatic performance, as does Wesley Snipes playing Gilliam&#;s sax-playing rival, Shadow. As with most Lee films, there are
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Release Date:2/4/20; Blu-Ray (Original Theatrical Release Date: 8/3/)
Genre: Drama
Rating:R
Director:Spike Lee
Studio(s): Universal Pictures, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, KL Studio Classics.
Running Time: mins.
Cast:Denzel Washington (Bleek Gilliam), Spike Lee (Giant), Wesley Snipes (Shadow Henderson), Joie Lee (Indigo Downes), Cynda Williams (Clarke Bentancourt), Giancarlo Esposito (Left Hand Lacey), Bill Nunn (Bottom Hammer), Jeff &#;Tain&#; Watts (Rhythm Jones), Dick Anthony Williams (Big Stop Williams), Abbey Lincoln (Lillian Gilliam), John Turturro (Moe Flatbush), Nicholas Turturro (Josh Flatbush), Robin Harris (Butterbean Jones), Samuel L. Jackson (Madlock), Leonard L. Thomas (Rod), Charlie Murphy (Eggy), Coati Mundi (Roberto), Diahann Carroll (Jazz Club Singer), Rubén Blades (Petey).
Details: It follows a period in the life of fictional jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam (played by Washington) as a series of bad decisions result in his jeopardizing both his relationships and his playing career. The film focuses on themes of friendship, loyalty, honesty, cause-and-effect, and ultimately salvation. It features th
Mo&#; Better Blues
Not one of his more cohesive or compelling works, Lee's fourth feature is on the surface a backstage jazz biopic. But all Lee features are vitally concerned with complicated racial issues, and though subtle, this is no exception. Bleek Gilliam is a handsome, accomplished jazz trumpeter who divides his limited extra-curricular time between Clarke (newcomer Williams) and Indigo (junior Lee sibling Joie). What's interesting is not so much the story of self-interested musician and ladies' man Gilliam, but the subtle racial issues his life draws into focus. The Branford Marsalis Quartet provides the music for Bleek's group, scored by Lee's dad Bill (on whose life the script is loosely based). m/C VHS, DVD . Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Joie Lee, Wesley Snipes, Cynda Williams, Giancarlo Esposito, Robin Harris, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, Dick Anthony Williams, Ruben Blades, Nicholas Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson, Abbey Lincoln, Tracy C. Johns, Joe Seneca; D:Spike Lee; W: Spike Lee; C: Ernest R. Dickerson; M: Bill Lee, Branford Marsalis.
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