How sad is this?

The first must-see film of the year.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

More like a Spike Lee Joke. Not sure what he was after here other than the obvious effort at realism but this can never be successful with terrible acting, pathetic production values, and dialogue that if heard by anyone in Brooklyn, that is willing to tell the truth, would say is horribly exaggerated and nothing close to what is really heard. Perhaps he is simply trying to convey that living in Brooklyn may cause irritable bowel syndrome. Other than that, not sure what really came out of this sad attempt at putting a good book to screen.

Man, that film is bs, should i really belive Rodney Little f'ed up Strike's car like that in front of police station? And not one cop saw that and stop/arrest him? Yeah, right. And what about Strike getting away free when it was all his fault. He's the one who told his brother some bs story about Darryl Adams, he brainwashed the kid and f'ed up his future and he was selling death to his ppl. And at the end he just ride away into sunshine. Helluva happy end.

Although I have only seen a few of Spike Lee's films, I am already beginning to place him very low on the ladder of the best directors alive today. Clockers fails, in my opinion, because the film's premise is lacking substance to begin with; the story is lackluster to the max. On top of this, where the film had its opportunities to reel in the audience emotionally, it instead dropped the ball. Moments where energy, tension, and suspense were supposed to effused were disappointingly overridden with anticlimactic slumps in action. The choking scene in the car as well as when Mekhi is being beat up in the park, with their odd selection of music, seem unfulfilled in their potential to capitalize on emotional appeal.I will say the denouement is shot with expert precision. Lee's patented cinematographic maneuver, the double dolly, is on full display. Moreover, his use of low-key lighting in some specific scenes that illustrate the proliferation of drugs inside the projects are done in a professionally haunting manor. Unfortunately, these instances are rare, overshadowed by the weak portions previously discussed.With regards to Lee's film style in Clockers, I like to point out two of his techniques that I find terribly annoying: 1) Those stupid circling gliding shots around characters when they are talking. 2) His persistent use of intense music to compliment serious(at least Lee thinks they must be) scenes. When put together, these two devices serve to create the ultimate exaggeration of the weight a scene carries in this film. Doing a flashy gliding pan across the park accompanied by pounding sound while Tyrone's mother yells at Mekhi and his boys about his haircut is a little excessive. Instead, I think Clocker's would benefit from a greater variation in the levels of stress and emotion we experience in each scene. This way, when the film actually does come to a TRULY significant moment, the audience will become more invested in the action.P.S. I don't think anyone from the projects would actually where a complete Arizona wildcats uniform. Just the jersey, not the shorts.

Take a murder mystery story, mix it into a contemporary vulgar urban setting, then sprinkle some racial tension into the mix and you've got the highly intellectual and intense Spike Lee film Clockers. Clockers is about Strike, a young black man living in Brooklyn, dealing drugs for his ruthless drug lord Rodney Little. Strike deals drugs for the money, but all he really wants to do is hang out with his brothers in the park and play with model train sets. But things start to get rough when a night manager at a local fast food joint is murdered and Strike's brother Victor turns himself in. Det. Rocco Klein is the lead detective on the case and he doesn't buy Victor's story, which sets him on an obsessive hunt to unmask the truth behind this whole ordeal. The film is loaded with spirited yet vulgar dialouge, artistic and vibrant direction, and plenty of memorable characters. Clockers is witty, intelligent, and a lot of fun. It isn't your typical murder mystery or racial tension film. It is a beautiful blend of the two genres that turns into something very unique and very exciting.Spike Lee adds a lot of visual flair to this film and the way he directs it is something you can't quite pinpoint. The panoramic visual style is something you can't exactly describe in words and it is really something you have to see for yourself. There is something obviously unique going on in the way Lee directs this film, it is just difficult to articulate what exactly that is. But the visuals do work in a whole plethora of unique films, allowing the film to succeed on multiple levels. The film ranges from intense and gripping to quirky and fun. From one scene to the next the film grows more fun and more enthralling. Rarely do I care this much about what happens to the characters of a film and I'm not always so compelled to learn the motivations of the very well written characters of a film.All that being said I can't say that I loved the main character, Strike. The actor, Mekhi Phifer, wasn't great and the character himself had some odd moments. I eventually learned to like him and his character thankfully didn't deter too much from my liking of the film. Besides, a lot of the film actually focuses on Harvey Keitel's character and his unending search for the truth behind the murder. There are also numerous subplots that all end up being more interesting than the main character's story. It helps that this is just an all around well written film that is just smarter than your average crime film.Clockers is very different from any murder mystery crime film, as well as any racial tension film. But it provides plenty of great work on both sides of this spectrum. Spike Lee has created a visually interesting film with a fantastic story. The main character is the only low point of the film, but everything else is very good. Clockers is a very worthwhile watch for fans of Spike Lee or the multiple genres this film spans.