Spike Lee's films combine striking visual mastery with provocative, often uneven storytelling. She Hate Me showcases a deft camera and visionary imagery while suffering from a weak, confounding plot and provocative character choices, including Anthony Mackie's controversial role and a notable ensemble cast. The Oldboy reinterpretation presents disturbingly rich action and a committed Josh Brolin performance, with Brolin's prolonged confinement becoming an obsessive driving force that culminates in violent retribution. A sprawling war epic emphasizes striking images of the all-Black 92nd Infantry Division, the Buffalo Soldiers, traversing Italy's bright fields at World War II's end.
In She Hate Me, Spike's camera is deft as always, and his visionary gifts are turned up to ten. But the story here? Wow. Just wow. Anthony Mackie as lesbian-impregnator-for-moola just leaves me wanting more from a script. Fortunately, there's a strong cast, which includes Monica Bellucci, Woody Harrelson, and Kerry Washington as Mackie's child-seeking, newly queer ex. Any time Isaiah Whitlock Jr. gives us his patented "sheeeeeeee-it!" I'm there.
The action in Spike's reinterpretation of Park Chan-wook's 2003 thriller is disturbingly rich. It makes seeing Josh Brolin in the same room for half of the flick worth it. That's not exactly a bad thing, as his artful maneuvers in that hellhole are on par with Bill Murray's subversions of a never-ending morning, a la Groundhog Day. Brolin brings the grace of a noble warrior to the screen as the alcoholic adman Joe Doucett,
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