Movies:
Crooklyn
DVD Release
- Release Date: 1999
- Rating:
- Genre: Comedy Drama
- Movie Type: Childhood Drama, Americana
- Themes: Inner City Blues, Eccentric Families
- Director: Spike Lee
- Main Cast: Alfre Woodard, Delroy Lindo, David Patrick Kelly, Zelda Harris, Carlton Williams
- Release Year: 1994
- Country: US
- Run Time: 112 minutes
- MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Spike Lee and his siblings Cinque Lee and Joie Lee co-wrote this nostalgic but unglamorized look at a family growing up in Brooklyn in the 1970s, inspired by their own childhood. Woody Carmichael (Delroy Lindo) is a jazz musician whose career is in a slump; he once made a good living as a session musician, but he has moved away from it to devote himself to more serious music, a choice that has not worked out well from a financial standpoint. His wife Carolyn (Alfre Woodard) works as a school teacher to keep food on the table. The Carmichaels have five children, a bright and introspective daughter named Troy (Zelda Harris) and four sons with a habit of causing trouble, and they all share an apartment in a brownstone in Brooklyn. Crooklyn follows the Carmichaels as the kids learn the funny and painful lessons of growing up, Mom and Dad balance their love for each other against the financial and personal difficulties of the creative life, and they all try to get along with the often eccentric neighbors on their block. Crooklyn's soundtrack is enlivened by classic 70s R&B hits, including selections by Sly and the Family Stone, The Jackson Five, Curtis Mayfield, The Staple Singers, and The Chambers Brothers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie GuideReview
Spike Lee takes a break from sensationalism with Crooklyn, a wistful yet uncompromising look at the lower middle-class Brooklyn of his youth. Episodic and told through the eyes of the family's lone daughter, Troy, played by the revelatory Zelda Harris, Crooklyn is rich with atmosphere and classic R&B tunes from the early '70s. But without Lee's usual sociopolitical agendas, it's more of a pleasant diversion than a film of lasting import. To be sure, Lee is still interested in the pulsing dynamics of inner city neighborhoods, notably how the conditions incite argument. But with elements like the wonderful opening credits montage, featuring the diverse range of sidewalk games the children concoct to pass the time, the film takes the softer tone of a labor of love by and about his family. Lee's siblings Joie and Cinque, novice screenwriters, conceal their inexperience with skillful, natural slices of the life they once knew, though it's likely Lee had a far greater hand in the writing. Delroy Lindo and Alfre Woodard give sympathetic performances as parents refreshingly free from dysfunction, other than the father's impractical earnestness about progressing as a musician. The contrast between Southern rural blacks and inner-city blacks, explored during the summer Troy spends with her relatives, also yields interesting insights. Although the director made his reputation on inflammatory subject matter, his foray into more personal territory is a welcome success on its own modest terms. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie GuideCast
- Alfre Woodard - Carolyn Carmichael
- Delroy Lindo - Woody Carmichael
- David Patrick Kelly - Jim
- Zelda Harris - Troy
- Carlton Williams - Clinton
Sharif Rashed - Wendell; Tse-Mach Washington - Joseph; Christopher Knowings - Nate; José Zuñiga - Tommy La La; Isaiah Washington - Vic; Ivelka Reyes - Jessica; Spike Lee - Snuffy; N.Jeremi Duru - Right Hand Man; Frances Foster - Aunt Song; Norman Matlock - Clem; Patriece Nelson - Viola; Vondie Curtis-Hall - Uncle Brown; Tiasha Reyes - Minnie; Mildred Clinton - Mrs Columbo; Arthur French - West Indian Store Manager; Dan Grimaldi - Con Ed Man; Keith Johnson - Cornell; Joie Lee; Michele Shay - Drunk Woman; Bokeem Woodbine - Richard; Robi Reed; RuPaul - Bodega Woman; Christopher Wynkoop - TV Evangelist
