Review of Mo' Better Blues (1990) by Andrew U — 16 Sep 2010

I admit that I generally prefer very natural-sounding dialogue, but I can deal with stylized dialogue when it's done right. I'm not quite sure what "right" is, but I know it when I hear it.

Maybe it's when you hear the characters speaking, and not the writer. I confess there's a ton of his work I haven't seen yet, but Spike Lee has a problem with this, at least in his early career.

Only in Do the Right Thing (so far) are the characters strong enough to make it sound like their voices and not Lee's. In this movie, most of it just sounded like Lee trying to be clever, rhythmic, or profound.

I think the other major mistake here is trying to make a star out of Cynda Williams (as in, the opening credits ending with "And introducing..."). She's just bland... unconvincing as an actress, doesn't sing that great, has no spark, and frankly I don't think she's all that attractive either.

Fortunately she doesn't dominate the picture, but she's definitely the weak link in otherwise decent cast. Besides that, the film is, well, merely passable. I didn't hate it, but didn't think it worked as either a tribute to jazz or a compelling character profile or a contemporary romance.

It has its moments, though, and credit must be given to Ernest Dickerson's colorful photography and Denzel Washington's usual excellence.