Simply A Masterpiece

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

I'm not a black man in America, but I've loved all of Spike's films and quite frankly, I wish people (not, by and large, the commenters on this film, refreshingly) would attempt to make films "black" or "white" or "Latino" or any other social or political or religious demeaner. This is a wonderful film and all people should be able to appreciate it. I would like to respond to those who think this is a "white-berating" movie or something. One word: please. The vast majority of the dialogue in this film is African-American focused and there is very little criticism of The White Man. Those of you who claim otherwise, well, to quote Shakespeare, "I think thou doth protest too much." Lee has given the black man, as they like to say in liberal arts grad school programs, agency. He has presented the wide range of black circumstances. These are not victims of drive-by shootings, gang-bangers, or basketball players. I did find the characters a bit stock in their very attempts to convey such distinctly different elements of the black experience. It was as though Spike ticked off boxes saying, OK, we have a conservative black man, we have a struggling middle-class black man, we have an egomaniacal black man..but having said that, it is only possible for that to be a criticism because as viewers, we are so unused to seeing black men depicted in complex ways. As a white guy who's worked in largely minority schools for a decade and was The White Guy who'd attend all the functions of the minority student association events in college-that is to say, I enjoyed learning about all manner of racial diversity, I don't think, that as a white person, it's appropriate to judge the fitness of folks of another ethnicity to use words which might seem a little coarse. If people want to use those words, when they do not refer to me, what is it to me? If white folks hadn't been using those words back in the day, the use of those words would not even be an issue now. Anyway, I'm rambling, but it seems that this film was made, essentially, as one of those rare vehicles which allows people (not that many people saw this film, of course.....) to see black men as humans. We see an egomaniacal, sexually-insecure man named Smooth (the fantastic Andre Braugher). We see a light-skinned African American (the very talented Roger Guenver Smith) who must answer barbed criticisms from Smooth about his claim to a legitimate place in the African-American community, Charles Dutton, criminally underemployed in modern movies as the organizer of the bus journey to the Million Man March and the glue who holds (as best he can) the trip together. We see two gay men (Isaiah Washington (ya really think the man is homophobic?)) and Henry Lennix as Randall (also excellent) whose relationship is challenged by Randall's insecurity about it. Ossie Davis is brilliant as an older man who largely keeps his counsel but when needed to keep the train from coming off the tracks, seems to know just how to calm the storm. A hard-working middle-class man named Evan (the reliable Thomas Byrd Jr., a regular in Lee's movies) is struggling with how best to raise his son. His heart is in the right place but the job is not easy. His son, Jamal (Gabriel Casseus giving a nuanced performance communicating all range of depth and yet at the same time, the simplicity which only a young person can convey). The black man who turns out to be self-hating, and who joins the bus (for a short time, in Memphis), Wendell, is amusingly and with a great deal of satisfaction, I would imagine, to all positive and forward-thinking blacks (and folks of other colors) dealt with quite appropriately. His behavior is quite disgraceful and as I watched him I hoped that he would get the harsh comeuppance which he did indeed receive.The cinematography of the bus travelling through the American west is bleached out in order to convey the starkness of the landscape and in order that the focus remains on these rich, wonderfully human characters. Lee does a fantastic job directing. I'm not willing to say this is his best film when the man has directed "Do The Right Thing", and "When the Levees Break" which is all you need to know about Hurricane Katrina. But saying this film is worse than those two is not saying anything bad about this film. It is excellent and it is a tribute to black men which more people should see so that in America more people understand that black men are as diverse as there are grains of sand on the ocean.

NO SPOILERS A real stunner from Spike Lee using his characteristic mental conundrums to mix a wide spectrum of all black male "individual" characters on the way to a march/event in Washington; a Gay couple, a truculent/homophobic guy/LAPD Cop/an Elder/a young Gang Member chained to his Father on a Judge's release understanding and many other interesting guys you would pass on the street - maybe without a second glance - until you see this film.For me, a single white guy, I felt the film successfully served to strip away more than the fair share of stereotypical notions maintained in the collective consciousness of both black and white - "GET ON THE BUS" hits the spot over and over, and held my attention from start to finish.The 'journey' travels along with the interaction of the characters, split into scenes by a great and meaningful soundtrack - the road is but a short journey but a longer way through the soul to give understanding.Whilst the conclusion/end of the film was probably one of the most powerful messages, I did feel a little disappointment - but as I write, instead of me whining for a better ending, my mind has traversed across millions of attitudes and set free many images that had been lodged in my simple mind.This may not sound like a riveting review - but you'll need to watch it - you'll be nourished.

We join the bus ride with a group of Black Americans as they journey to the Million Man March. During this journey, the camera enters the soul and beliefs of each character that represents a whole spectrum of the Black community. Their conversations range from the politics to the religions and beyond their inner-self . Each one finding new meaning to their life and destiny. Reggie's preachy but fascinating script is handled masterfully by the genius Spike Lee.

The first time I saw this movie , I wasn't impressed with it. It seemed boring and pointless. Then I watched again with friends and got the message behind it. Spike Lee has made a great male bonding film that everyone should see no matter what color you are.