Spike Lee directs Harvey Keitel, Delroy Lindo and Mekhi Phifer in this crime thriller where a dogged cop puts the heat on a young drug dealer when his hard working brother confesses to a gangland shooting that makes no sense.

This felt so like what a studio wanted Spike Lee to make in the Ninieties that it came across as a little predictable and underwhelming on release. These days Clockers is powerful and his wild moves are pretty spellbinding. I doubt the execs at Universal really wanted the opening credit sequence of murder scenes photos zooming in and out of bullet holes in real young black men’s corpses though. Like I say powerful. The murder mystery aspect is strong and entertaining. This feels like a wet run at what The Wire later achieved in a similar milieu. Lee is more expressionistic, more personal. With vibrancy comes mess. Sure, the soundtrack is discordant and the ending prolongs the impending tragedy to the point of incredulity… But no one then or since has been making cinema like Lee and it is hard not to marvel at his big, bold swings within the studio system. Delroy Lindo’s stand-out turn as the fatherly kingpin is convincing and depressing.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Copland (1997)

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