Crooklyn

Make yourself at home with the Carmichael family as they experience one very special summer in their Brooklyn neighborhood that they've affectionately nicknamed "Crooklyn". Renowned director Spike Lee fashions a bold, flavorful picture of family life that People Magazine calls his "most affectionate work." Academy Award nominee Alfre Woodard stars as Carolyn, a loving, but fiercely independent mother who along with her musician husband (Delroy Lindo) struggles to raise her family in difficult but often wonderful circumstances. Complemented by an energizing, vintage R&B soundtrack, this tender, colorful film is a fitting tribute to an American family. Starring: Alfre Woodard, Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee, David Patrick Kelly, Zelda Harris, Jose Zuniga, Isaiah Washington, Ivelka Reyes, N. Jeremi Duru, Patriece Nelson, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Tse-Mach Washington, Carlton Williams, Christopher Knowings, Sharif Rashed Directed by: Spike Lee

Spike Lee's semiautobiographical, 1994 film about the good and bad times for a Brooklyn family in the '70s has passion and nostalgic good feeling, but it is also a mess of random reflections and arbitrary storytelling. The centerpiece of the movie is a little girl (Zelda Harris) who views the ups and downs of her parents' experiences (mom and dad are played by Delroy Lindo and Alfre Woodard), and who navigates the life of her neighborhood. Lee tosses in a lot of '70s detail (watching The Partridge Family) and other diversions (Harris's journey through suburbia), but he has no master sensibility controlling the flow of it all. The film is more wearying than anything, although bright spots include Lindo's fine performance as a talented man suffering from irrelevance. --Tom Keogh

Spike Lee's semiautobiographical, 1994 film about the good and bad times for a Brooklyn family in the '70s has passion and nostalgic good feeling, but it is also a mess of random reflections and arbitrary storytelling. The centerpiece of the movie is a little girl (Zelda Harris) who views the ups and downs of her parents' experiences (mom and dad are played by Delroy Lindo and Alfre Woodard), and who navigates the life of her neighborhood. Lee tosses in a lot of '70s detail (watching The Partridge Family) and other diversions (Harris's journey through suburbia), but he has no master sensibility controlling the flow of it all. The film is more wearying than anything, although bright spots include Lindo's fine performance as a talented man suffering from irrelevance. --Tom Keogh