Mo' Better Blues (1990) ****
I hadn't watched Mo' Better Blues (1990) since the 90s. I had remembered really liking the film and I'm not sure why it took me so long to revisit it—damn, it just turned 30! Though music performance makes up a great many scenes in MBB, it has engaging, charismatic characters at its core, brought vividly to life by Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Wesly Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito, Joie Lee, and Cynda Williams.
The music numbers call to mind Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984), another wonderful film about jazz (my review here). The fascination with and portrayal of male ego, selfishness, self destruction, strained friendships/alliances, and career absorption in MBB remind one of films like A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) (my review here), On The Waterfront (1954), and Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980) and GoodFellas (1990).
But despite these similarities and obvious influences, MBB has the unmistakable look and feel of a Lee joint—thanks in large part to Ernest Dickerson's incredible cinematography, which is just as good here as his previous collaboration with Lee the year before, the classic Do The Right Thing (my review here). The vibrant colors, costumes, production design, and camera moves on display are just a sight to behold and drink in, voraciously.
The ending feels a little strange and perhaps like a bit of a forced redemption but it still works, particularly because of the satisfying callback to the film's opening scene. Mo' Better Blues may not be as complex or thought-provoking as some of Lee's other work, but I still find it to be one of his best and satisfying viewing experiences.
You can find my Spike Lee Joints Ranked list here.
The music numbers call to mind Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984), another wonderful film about jazz (my review here). The fascination with and portrayal of male ego, selfishness, self destruction, strained friendships/alliances, and career absorption in MBB remind one of films like A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) (my review here), On The Waterfront (1954), and Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980) and GoodFellas (1990).
But despite these similarities and obvious influences, MBB has the unmistakable look and feel of a Lee joint—thanks in large part to Ernest Dickerson's incredible cinematography, which is just as good here as his previous collaboration with Lee the year before, the classic Do The Right Thing (my review here). The vibrant colors, costumes, production design, and camera moves on display are just a sight to behold and drink in, voraciously.
The ending feels a little strange and perhaps like a bit of a forced redemption but it still works, particularly because of the satisfying callback to the film's opening scene. Mo' Better Blues may not be as complex or thought-provoking as some of Lee's other work, but I still find it to be one of his best and satisfying viewing experiences.
You can find my Spike Lee Joints Ranked list here.
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