Clockers

Year of Release:  1995
Director:  Spike Lee
Screenplay:  Spike Lee and Richard Price, based on the novel Clockers by Richard Price
Starring:  Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, Delroy Lindo, Mekhi Phifer, Isaiah Washington, Keith David, Pee Wee Love
Running Time:  128 minutes
Genre:  Thriller, crime drama

Brooklyn, New York City:  Nineteen year old Strike (Phifer) is a "Clocker", a street level drug dealer, working for local drug dealer Rodney Little (Lindo).  When a rival dealer, who Little claims ripped him off, turns up dead, Strike's brother, Victor (Washington) confesses to the murder.  However, Victor is an honest, upstanding member of the community.  A hard-working family man who has never been in trouble with the law, and has no reason to commit murder.  Homicide detective Rocco Klein (Keitel) is convinced that Victor is innocent and taking the fall for Strike. 

Based on an acclaimed 1992 novel by Richard Price, which later served as inspiration for the TV series The Wire (2002-2008), this is an angry, stylish urban thriller.  It moves from gritty documentary-style realism, to stylish flamboyance, with Lee showcasing his trademark visual flair.  He also shows his skill with actors getting some great performances from a talented cast.  The characters are not just one dimensional, Klein is technically the hero, and does care about seeing justice done, but is also quite racist, at least in his language.  Strike is a dealer, but has moments of compassion and kindness.  Rodney Little is an avuncular father figure, and also a violent crime boss.  However the film is really about communities being ripped apart by drugs and violence, where casual murder is an everyday reality.  The film was not a success when it was first released, and seems to be an overlooked film in Lee's oeuvre, which is a real shame because it deserves a lot better and, sadly, is as relevant in  2020 as it was in 1995.

John Turturro, Mekhi Phifer and Harvey Keitel in Clockers   

Crooklyn

Year of Release:  1994
Director:  Spike Lee
Screenplay:  Joie Susannah Lee, Cinque Lee and Spike Lee, based on a story by Joie Susannah lee
Starring:  Alfre Woodward, Delroy Lindo, Zelda Harris, Spike Lee
Running Time:  115 minutes
Genre:  Drama, comedy, coming of age

This semi-autobiographical directed by Spike Lee, and co-written by Lee and his siblings, Cinque and Joie Susannah.  The film is set over the spring and summer of 1973 in a tough but close-knit neighbourhood in Brooklyn, New York, and focuses on nine year old Troy Carmichael (Harris) growing up with four rowdy brothers and her troubled by loving parents:  Strict school teacher Carolyn (Woodward), who holds the family together, and ambitious but naive musician Woody (Lindo), who had some success with pop music covers in the past but now wants to concentrate exclusively on his own music.

The film is colourful, lively and is unusually light for a Spike Lee film, however there is still plenty of grit.  The neighbourhood is populated with eccentric characters, children play on the stoops and the street, everyone knows what is going on with everyone else and more often than not look out for each other, but it is tough, and there is always a threat of violence, although having said that, it's more likely to be a light punch rather than a gunshot.  The film is visually inventive.  Troy goes to stay with relatives in the South, which she finds very disturbing and disorientating, and these scenes are filmed in widescreen without anamorphically adjusting the image, which gives it a strange elongated look.  The performances are great, Alfre Woodward, Delroy Lindo and Zelda Harris are all superb, and the Carmichael family do feel like a real family, and your left wondering what happens to them after the film.  Spike Lee has a part as the neighbourhood glue sniffer Snuffy.  It's a loose film, without a strong plot, and feels quite baggy and episodic.  It's warm, funny, gritty and real, with a fantastic soundtrack of early '70s soul music.

 Zelda Harris and Delroy Lindo in Crooklyn