Review of Clockers (1995) by Doug M — 25 Oct 2017

Spike Lee in Euro-auteur mode. Lots to like, plenty to dislike too, but definitely worth seeing. Keitel is at his very best, with nothing to prove. A pitch perfect performance. The rest of the cast is very good.

Delroy Lindo is another standout. The changing film stocks with occasionally blown-out or supersaturated cinematography. The extreme close up on the reflection in an eyeball.... Lee mixes expressionism with the grittiest kind of realism and then gets unapologetically preachy and didactic at moments, and for me, it all worked.

Lee's arty moves with the camera are intriguing. He earns his right to preach with the strong realism that lets no one off the hook. Lee creates a sympathetic portrait of a young drug dealer without apologizing for him, or excusing him, or his environment.

He creates a portrait of inner city narcotics and homicide detectives that is unsparing, but not unfair. So why not 5 stars? Because for all the brilliance on display around the frame of things -- the story in the center isn't told with real dramatic intensity.

Richard Price's book on which the movie is based is a gripping unforgettable read. On the page, Strike and his brother, the other creatures of the hood, you care about them, you sweat their fear with them.

Lee doesn't get there. Fans of the book who see Clockers should know that it's set in Brooklyn, not Jersey across the river, and that important characters are altogether missing (no Buddha Hat, for example!) but nevertheless to expect something similar to the book, with as convincing a documentary feel to some of the dialogue and interactions.

But they shouldn't expect the same edge of their seat experience that Price's brilliant book provided.