Memorable, crazy movie

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This is one of the most enjoyable films i have ever seen.

Semi-autobiographical, Spike Lee's "Crooklyn" stars Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo as an African American couple struggling to raise a band of rowdy kids in 1970s Brooklyn. The film's comprised of a series of vignettes, some of which are powerful, most of which are overly loud and busy.Though initially shapeless, "Crooklyn" eventually reveals itself to be told from the point of view of Troy (Zelda Harris), a young girl who watches as her mother slides unexpectedly into sickness and then death. With mommy's passing comes Troy's new-found respect for the strength and struggles of African American women; throughout all the film's commotion, Mommy has been the raft keeping this family unit afloat.Like most of Lee's films, "Crooklyn" exudes nostalgia for New York's promenades, stoops and brownstones. The film isn't conventionally sentimental, though, and instead adopts a tone of aggression. Things happen hard, fast, and our little family seems always under siege.Those familiar with Lee's background will perhaps find "Crooklyn" more touching than those who aren't; similar to the mother in the film, Lee's own mother died of cancer. Lee's father, like Delroy Lindo's character, was also a struggling jazz musician (and clandestine drug addict). A Knicks obsessed kid called Clinton also becomes a stand in for a pre-teen Lee, who himself appears in the film as a hilarious glue-sniffer."I Woke Up In Love This Morning", a gang of black kids sing in one of the film's best moments. They're mimicking the ultra-white Partridge Family, an image they slowly reject when their family moves out to white-worshipping Maryland to visit relatives. From here on, white artifacts give way to Afros, Soul Trains, Jackson Fives, disco and black consciousness. Final shot? Little Troy leaning outside her house like her departed mother, quietly dignified, but old beyond her years.7.5/10 – Not a great work, but a milestone of black cinema nonetheless. Worth two viewings.

Just watched this Spike Lee Joint on YouTube. It's largely about a family in Brooklyn during the early '70s based on Spike's siblings and parents during that part when he was growing up there. The mother Carolyn (Alfre Woodard) is the breadwinner as a teacher who constantly gets upset whenever her kids-Clinton (Carlton Williams) who is based on Spike himself, Wendell (Sharif Rashed), Nate (Chris Knowings), and Joseph (Tse-Mach Washington) disobey her orders. The same goes to her musician husband Woody (Delroy Lindo) who no longer is willing to compromise himself for his autonomy. Only her daughter Troy (Zelda Harris) seems to mostly escape her wrath. She's based on Spike's real-life sis Joie Susannah Lee who plays Aunt Maxine here and helped write the screenplay with Spike and other sibling Cinque. There's plenty of drama and some laughs like when Troy goes down South to visit her Aunt Song (Frances Foster), Uncle Clem (Norman Matlock), and cousin Viola (Patriece Nelson) especially when Aunt Song inadvertently offends Troy in commenting on her hair. That scene is shot in a distorted way that is pretty alienating though whenever it's on Troy and Viola, there's still some joy to be had especially when The Jackson 5's "ABC" is playing. In fact, several of the songs from that period evoke such a nostalgia on my part that when the YouTube upload went silent because of some copyright infringement on the part of Warner Music Group because of some song that they own, the subtitles took care of what was playing and I was at least able to imagine how the scene played with the music. Anyway, I liked this movie despite some of what I cited and recommend it highly. P.S. Lee himself appears as Snuffy and familiar faces like RuPaul, Isaiah Washington, and Vondie Curtis-Hall as Uncle Brown are also fun to look for. And I dedicate this review in memory of the late Don Cornelius whose "Soul Train" plays as part of the ending.

Ahhh who can forget the good Ol' days of Spike Lee films that had heart as well as insight? Who can forget this gem? Crooklyn is loosely based on Spike Lee's life growing up. Its mostly a story that mostly details the struggles of a family growing up in Brooklyn as seen through the eyes of Troy(played by Zelda Harris). There are beautiful performances to be seen here. Alfre Woodard's presence is felt as the stern but loving mother of four kids and Delroy Lindo's is great as the father who is also dealing with pressure as a struggling musician and trying to pay the rent on time. They go through the normal strife that any black family has to go through in poor areas but they still find a way to maintain. I remember as a kid that the last scene with the mom passing on had me choked up. Troy and her brother holding hands at the reception for the funeral was a touching scene too. They drove each other crazy but it was still love in the end. Crooklyn has brief moments of awareness like one scene in particular: Troy's aunt comparing troy's hair to her adopted child's hair saying that the adopted child's hair was good hair and that Troy's hair was rough was a subtle form of self-hatred but most people wouldn't pick up on that. Of course Spike Lee has to make an appearance in the movie. He plays a junkie who chases kids around trying to steal money from them. In short Crooklyn stands out as one the best dramas of all time and one of Spike Lee's best work. The characters are ones that you care about, their struggles are real and anybody who has been there can also relate. Two thumbs up for Spike Lee's work of art on film.