Red Hook Summer

A middle-class boy from Atlanta is forced to spend the summer with his deeply religious grandfather in a poor housing project in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Spike Lee wrote and directed this boring tale. This rambling tale gets very tiresome. Did Spike Lee turn anti-religion? The story turns even uglier with a twist that comes out of nowhere. I'm uncertain about what is happening to Spike Lee. After great successes in the 90s and the 2000s, is he on the road to big time experimentation? What is going on? I don't get it. This movie is a mess. Maybe it's some kind of personal project. But even then, I'd expect more skills than he's showing here.

I give this film an 8 out of 10 only because of it's obviously miniscule budget, a few more takes on some of the scenes and we would have yet another great 'Spike Lee Joint'. Gotta let you know, Spike Lee is my favorite director, has been since the death of Stanley Kubrick, and, although neither here or there, they both made/make superior films whose appreciation oftentimes came way too late! The film begins a bit preachy in its dialog, contemporary religious and social and political pontifications, and I am OK with that, it's what Spike has always done. The slice of life tale of a young boy spending a summer with an extremely religious grandfather he's just met, and the unexpected denouement is very good storytelling and very worthy of Spike Lee. I really wanna spoil the story, but, please, see it for yourself.

Red Hook Summer, was funny, thought provoking, tugged at your emotions, and made you think...Classic Spike! You felt a sense of nostalgia with the return of characters Mookie (Do the Right Thing) and Nola Darling (now Mother Darling - She's Gotta Have It). The use of colors was wonderful, as usual Spike and his director of photography has a way of bringing the viewer right into the scene both visually and emotionally. I felt like I was living in Red Hook. The third act of the film was one of the most powerful scenes I have viewed in a looooong time...particularly with films of color. The symbolism Spike used just gave me goose bumps. That makes me want to see this film at least another 3 times, just to study the genius of this filmmaker. The overall music used in this film by Judith Hill and Bruce Hornsby was light and warm - a perfect contrast to the set of the film taking place in the projects of Red Hook - where there's much "death" - I suppose that is the irony of life. There was of course a turn at the end, and the music became more hard hitting during the last scenes of the film - the combination of the visuals and the music REALLY brought me emotionally into the "disturbing situation", brought tears to my eyes. 10 stars! And "that's the truth, ruth!"

...Clarke Peters (Freemon from HBO's "The Wire") should get an Oscar nomination for this. His performance is at once over-the-top and understated as a Brooklyn pastor who seemingly is a righteous pillar of a community that continues to wane under material violence and generational malaise. However this 'man-of-black-jesus' is hiding a terrifying secret that lifts what is at first another half-cliché movie about coming-of-age into unexpected darker and deeper territory. It makes "Red Hook Summer" into a risky, uncomfortable film and a film quite necessary in this day and age when institutions will blanket even the sickest of monsters to save their own public rep (I won't get more specific, but the contemporary story I'm alluding to concerns a man who's last name rhymes with 'Sam Clusky'). Aside from Peters, the film is worth watching for the loving touches Spike Lee brings to the setting. The music (by Bruce Hornsby), design and photography perfectly capture Brooklyn in the summertime in the same way "Crooklyn" did. Although Lee's approach, which here resembles Cassavettes at times, will upset some due to the obvious shot-on-the-fly-digital look and the after-mentioned below-par performances of the child actors.

Red Hook Summer (2012) is a drama movie co-written and directed by Spike Lee and it tells the story of a young boy learning about life when he stays with his preacher grandfather. This movie was a first time watch for and I really enjoyed the movie up until the point I didn't like it at the end.

Positives for Red Hook Summer (2012): The story of this movie is one I would expect from Spike Lee as there are some deeply compelling things about the journey for our main character. The performances from the cast are great from Clarke Peters, Nate Parker, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Toni Lysaith and Jules Brown. I really enjoyed the mentor-student relationship between Clarke Peters and Nate Parker as we get to see them connect while they working at the local church. There are themes that feel in line with how Spike Lee likes to tell in his stories. Every conversation has a reason behind it and they lead to some nice revelations that are interesting on paper. And finally, the pacing of the movie is really good and the story is more focused than the last Spike Lee movie I watched.

Negatives for Red Hook Summer (2012): There is a major plot twist towards the end of the movie that caught me off guard and it undermines everything I was watching prior to the story and it makes the story not as good as it was. I was also shocked that there are no repercussions for this major event in the sorry and it was just dumb.

Overall, Red Hook Summer (2012) is a fantastic drama movie from Spike Lee and it was among my favorite movies from the man until the plot twist which brought things down for me, but I would still recommend this movie to fans of Spike Lee and they might get more than I initially did.