Review of Mo' Better Blues (1990) by Angelo T — 01 Mar 2011

I remember watching this film for the first time in high school during my spare break. Already the film spoke volumes to me. Time to time I revisit it over and over, and I find myself discovering the finer things that make a story beyond complete.

Mo Better blues tells the story of a Jazzman (played by a young and strong Denzel Washington) who was raised to have his trumpet jazz as the core of his life, with everything else-love, friendship, money-taking second place. The ending is bittersweet and I found myself revisiting the pleasant taste of the opening scene.

In case you don't catch it the first time, watch for the subtle metaphor of how Washington's character's use of the classic jazz powerhouse, the trumpet, is drowned by the more modern and popular instruments played by his anti-thesis but also comparatively complex friend, Shadow (played by Washington). If not just take note on how Bleek handles and juggles the relationship between two women smooth, but in the end he does get his crotch kicked in (figuratively).

I don't quite understand the criticism Spike faced concerning the anti-semite depiction of the antagonistic Jewish club owners. Sure they were unredeemable characters, but would Lee wasn't criticized for having two black characters act as petty violent bookies. Sadly like jazz, useless nitpicking lasts through decades.