Red Hook Summer (2012)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I can see why Spike Lee keeps succeeding in the face of so much critical negativity. This movie may not reflect your life, your upbringing or circumstances, it does however reflect an otherwise hidden existence that Spike Lee brought to life. Well done. Worth watching.

This isn't Spike Lee's greatest film but by the end it has become one of his most intriguing. The children's performances are poor, but so are their characters; Lee doesn't have the kind of empathy needed to write for or direct child actors (and this is true of Crooklyn too). The film is also largely plot less, but as the film progresses it becomes clear that a traditional plot would undermine the film's themes. Red Hook Summer is about faith and human growth, subjects that aren't neat or linear.By no means a perfect film, Red Hook Summer deserves more attention than it has received.

Just watched this on Netflix so this may be a bit outdated. Anyway, I was born and raised in Brooklyn and generally enjoy Spike Lee's movies. Yes, he can be a bit cliché in the messages but what Spike does best is give the viewer spectacular cinematography. I also watch mostly documentaries, and as someone who works in urban education I'm drawn to movies that are set in realistic environments. I'm also a huge fan of Clarke Peters since The Wire. With that said, I was excited to see the movie and expected to be impressed. Yeahhh...not so much! Here are my issues with this movie:I was highly disappointed in the main actors as their performances were often overly-dramatic and they delivered extremely stereotypical lines that, at times, made me roll my eyes or raise my eyebrows in a moment of sarcasm. When 'Chazz" pronounced "liked" as "likedd-edd-ed," I found that so unbelievable. Wasn't she supposed to be a girl who grew up in the church listening to sermons and proper English? Didn't make sense why she would sound so ignorant. She was overall very extra and inauthentic. "Flik's" character came across as whiny and unemotional as I was unmoved by his performance. The "thug", played by Nate Parker, was also unconvincing. Casting wise, the only plus was Clarke Peters (a real actor) who gave an emotionally charged performance. Also, the script was heavy on delivering subliminal messages about life for many individuals living in any urban or struggling area. While I happen to think there was validity in those messages, it started feeling redundant by the middle of the movie. Not to mention it took forty minutes into the movie before we got to the thick of the plot.Bottom line is, there was a decent movie hidden somewhere among all the preachy, whiny, and clichéd dialogue-- if you can stand the bad acting!

I give this film an 8 out of 10 only because of it's obviously miniscule budget, a few more takes on some of the scenes and we would have yet another great 'Spike Lee Joint'. Gotta let you know, Spike Lee is my favorite director, has been since the death of Stanley Kubrick, and, although neither here or there, they both made/make superior films whose appreciation oftentimes came way too late! The film begins a bit preachy in its dialog, contemporary religious and social and political pontifications, and I am OK with that, it's what Spike has always done. The slice of life tale of a young boy spending a summer with an extremely religious grandfather he's just met, and the unexpected denouement is very good storytelling and very worthy of Spike Lee. I really wanna spoil the story, but, please, see it for yourself.