CROOKLYN
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1994 James Berardinelli
Rating (0 to 10): 7.0
Date Released: 5/13/94 Running Length: 1:55 Rated: PG-13 (Language, mature themes)
Starring: Alfre Woodard, Delroy Lindo, Zelda Harris, Carlton Williams, David Patrick Kelly Director: Spike Lee Producer: Spike Lee Screenplay: Joie Susannah Lee, Cinque Lee, and Spike Lee Music: Terence Blanchard Released by Universal Pictures
From MALCOLM X to CROOKLYN, Spike Lee has moved from heavy, epic drama to something significantly more lighthearted. As with his previous film, this one places us into a time capsule, although the destination is much closer to the present. Instead of drifting back to the first half of this century, we're only going to 1973, a year when afros and bellbottoms were in fashion; when the Knicks won the basketball championship; and when there were enough pop tunes to fill a soundtrack.
Told from the point-of-view of 10-year old Troy Carmichael (Zelda Harris), CROOKLYN is the story of how one family struggles to survive and stay together. With Troy's musician dad Woody (Delroy Lindo) busy in the basement composing, the full burden of running the family - and bringing home the money - falls on Troy's mom, Carolyn (Alfre Woodard). This inevitably leads to tension between the two adults, and when one particularly nasty fight explodes, Woody is out the door.
Producer/director Spike Lee has woven a wonderfully rich drama that has one major stumbling block. Two-thirds of the way through the movie, Troy goes south to visit a hyper-religious aunt. To emphasize how distorted the little girl's perception of this vacation is, Lee shoots this portion of the movie with an anamorphic lens, causing everything to seem elongated. While that's fine for short sequences, in this case it goes on for too long, becoming an annoying trick that nearly undermines the entire film.
Aside from this twenty-minute detour, there aren't many flaws in CROOKLYN. All but the most comic of urban violence has been removed, and we're left with a somewhat-idealized view of an early-70s Brooklyn. Lee is as talented as any director is capturing a time, and some of the early scenes perfectly recall the mood of the era. The pop soundtrack may be a little too obvious, but it gets the job done.
As usual, Lee has assembled an excellent cast. Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo do tremendous jobs. David Patrick Kelly (who is also currently featured in THE CROW) provides a little comic relief as the white next-door neighbor who annoys just about everyone. Then there's Zelda Harris, whose fine, unaffected performance is the glue that holds the picture together.
CROOKLYN comes to the screen with an upbeat tone and a lot of heart. The world of a child - especially one pushed all-too-soon into adulthood - is never easy, and this film captures the facets of Troy's odyssey. If Lee errs with his "Southern vacation" scenes, he recovers to create an ending that is both touching and hopeful. Beneath the surface of this deceptively simple motion picture lurks a singularly keen insight.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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