written and directed by Spike Lee
Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington) is a jazz trumpeter who is juggling two women and trying to keep the musicians in his quartet happy. Giant (Spike Lee), his manager, has a gambling habit and doesn't do a very good job negotiating a good deal for Bleek's quartet at the jazz club at which they are currently performing. The most vocal member of the quartet is Shadow (Wesley Snipes) who also has his eye on Clarke, one of Bleek's women, who is also a singer.
Things start off good but go downhill from there. The pressure gets to be a little too much for Bleek. Giant gets beat up more than once by enforcers who are there to collect money. Bleek wants to help Giant but he's got problems of his own. Things go from bad to worse for Bleek and Giant.
I first saw this movie in the early 1990s, probably 1992. I used to own it on VHS. I think I also bought the soundtrack. This was my first time watching it in quite some time, probably more than 25 years.
There were lots of little moments that came back to me when I saw them. I remembered some of the story points but not all of them. I forgot that Samuel L. Jackson was in it. He wasn't as well known when I first saw this movie.
The music really makes the movie for me. The story is good and the acting is damn good but the music was always there. I think that most of the music was played by Branford Marsalis and his band. Some of it was written by Spike Lee's father. I believe he has written for many of his son's movies.
I really enjoyed watching this movie, for the first time in what feels like forever. It isn't perfect, and it isn't my favorite Spike Lee movie, but it was definitely worth watching again. I can see myself watching it again down the road.
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