THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 16, 1995 TAG: 9509150053
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
``CLOCKERS,'' the latest film from director Spike Lee, opens with a long, silent, mesmerizing look at human brain tissue spilled on a city sidewalk. The camera does not flinch as it pans over mutilated corpses, complete with entrance and exit wounds and slit throats. This carnage is the result of urban warfare - the result of drugs and greed.
This is Spike's return to the tough, aggressive style of his earlier films. After a softer and sweeter Spike surfaced with the comedy ``Crooklyn,'' it's now back to business as usual.
His business as usual, though, is not the same as other directors'. Most of the violence in this film takes place off camera, while he gets in society's face about it all. Spike Lee takes no prisoners. He's mad, again, about everything.
``Clockers'' is lacking in dramatic focus and it rambles on much too long (over two hours), but it is still a clear-eyed, if angry, look at the ghetto drug culture. And some scenes are riveting.
The central character is Strike, a 17-year-old crack dealer who works for a pusher named Rodney. Rodney tolerates no backtalk from his boys. Rodney wants Strike to knock off a troublesome thief who has been dealing out of a fast-food store. The guy is promptly found dead, but we don't see exactly who killed him.
Strike's ``nice'' brother, Victor, confesses to the killing, claiming that it was self-defense, but the investigating homicide cop doesn't believe him. The cop, played by always reliable Harvey Keitel, is tough, manipulative and coarse, but he is also caring. In the post-Mark Fuhrman era, he is an example of a policeman on the street, at war. Keitel's character believes that the bad brother, Strike, must have done the killing. After all, Victor has a wife and children and works two jobs to support them.
Drugs are treated as a routine business - nothing exciting and certainly nothing glamorous. On this count, the film deserves particular points. It shows children who learn math by adding up thousands of dollars in drug profits. It shows a society in which hard-working men who hold regular jobs are regarded as stupid and square. It shows us how dead bodies on the street have become very ordinary.
Mekhi Phifer, cast as Strike, looks and moves right, but he lacks the acting ability that created the title character in ``Fresh'' last year (a much better film on the same subject). Tom Byrd is scary as a pop-eyed player who was a force before he got ravaged with disease on the streets. The film's showiest role, though, belongs to Delroy Lindo as Rodney, the pusher who becomes nervous when Strike has increasingly frequent discussions with Keitel. John Turturro's role, as Keitel's partner, has been reduced to a tiny one.
Spike is hitting black-on-black violence here. Previously, he made a comedy on color prejudice within the black race (light shades vs. dark shades). He is the only filmmaker (including the more mainstream John Singleton) who will dare to nudge his own race with subjects like these.
With ``Clockers,'' though, he rambles too much. His film lacks dramatic impact, and he has a problem finding an ending. Traditionally his films, while often effective set-ups, have pat, seemingly tacked-on, endings. This one is no exception. At the last moment, after more than two hours of wandering, he suggests a simple solution. Given the gritty situation, moviegoers are not likely to buy it. ILLUSTRATION: MOVIE REVIEW
``Clockers''
Cast: Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, Delroy Lindo, Mekhi Phifer,
Isaiah Washington
Director: Spike Lee
Screenplay: Spike Lee and Richard Price, based on the novel by
Price
Music: Terence Blanchard
MPAA rating: R (profanity and violence, no sex or nudity)
Mal's rating: **1/2
Locations: Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake; Janaf and Main Gate
in Norfolk; Kemps River, Lynnhaven 8, Pembroke in Virginia Beach
by CNB