Watch Mo' Better Blues For Free

Absolutely the worst movie.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

This movie has three things I love - Denzel, jazz, and baseball. And yet, I did not like this movie at all. Straight off, I take two stars away because Spike is in it, and he can't act - at all. Just horrible, like Keanu horrible. Another two stars off because of the Spike Lee weird camera thing. This time two spinny camera turns in the first thirty minutes! Dizzy is not a good thing for a filmgoer. And one more star subtracted for the dialogue constantly being one on top of another. Take the opening scene for example. So many voices are delivering their lines at once, so much so, that I couldn't make out who the characters were (turns out it was mom, dad, son). Spike has so much to say, but he runs right over most of it. A shame.

Having just watched Do the Right Thing, I'm now reviewing Spike Lee's follow-up Mo' Better Blues which I also watched on YouTube. Spike plays Giant, manager to Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington) whose jazz band is the hottest in the club. One of those band members is Shadow Henderson (Wesley Snipes) who sometimes gets in conflict with Bleek over creative and other matters. One of those other matters is singer Clarke Bentancourt (Cynda Williams) who wants Bleek to hire her but he won't though that doesn't mean he won't share his bed. She's not the only one as another lady named Indigo Downes (Joie Lee, Spike's sister) also sleeps with him. That causes another conflict. I'll stop there and just say that while I liked the drama, it does seem to be a bit rushed toward the end. Still, it was enjoyable enough and the score by Spike and Joie's father Bill (who cameos near the end) was excellent. Also enjoyable was hearing Brandford Marsalis (dubbing Snipes' saxophone) and Terence Blanchard (Wahington's trumpet) during the musical interludes and Ms. Williams' singing was also fine. Now I've read and heard some debate about the portrayal of Jewish club owners Moe and Josh Flatbush (John and Nicholas Turturro) as stereotypical but I didn't notice or maybe I just wasn't aware so I wasn't distracted in any way. So on that note, Mo' Better Blues gets a recommendation from me. P.S. I thought it quite enjoyably bizarre to hear Samuel L. Jackson as his DJ Daddy Love character from Do The Right Thing and then seeing him as the bully character Madlock.

I am shocked this film has such a low IMDb score! I watched both this and Crooklyn the past few days, and this is the better film.It has all the flaws of Lee's films - tonally all over the place and a tad overlong.But that's why I love Lee. He is always interesting. I love Inside Man, a more conventional film for Lee, but Mo' Better Blues is far more personal. This is quite clearly a work of love for the director. The cinematography is stunning. The fast dolly shots are similar to that of Scorsese and Hitchcock. The colour is wonderful too, full of rich blues and reds on the New York skyline.The story is pretty good too, though you will have seen it all before. The tale of a jazz musician and his band, through their highs and lows: in terms of live and music. The acting is all round great, headed by Denzel Washington as Bleek, the artist who loves the music more than his friends. Wesley Snipes is Shadow Henderson. This is back when Snipes didn't have to phone in a performance in a silly action film. Lee himself, and Joie Lee also give fine support.Let's not forget the music, which is what the film revolves around anyway. If you don't like jazz, I guess this film isn't for you. I myself liked it, it had me tapping my feet all the through.The film is a little long and can sometimes lose its way, but this is a very enjoyable film, a solid effort from Spike Lee.

In Spike Lee's fourth film, Denzel Washington proves early in his career that he is capable of being funny and romantic in a more modest film than Glory or Cry Freedom, the music is breezy and romantic and consistent, jazzy and colorful cinematography, and another characteristic Spike Lee touch, which is his gift for drawing from his actors stunningly realistic performances. In some ensemble scenes, the dialogue seems like improvisation. Maybe it is.Mo' Better Blues is a good, steady, effective drama, a portrait of a complex and overwrought musician and the indecision and jealousy that gradually eat away at his life, but it lacks the passion and brazen provocative nature of nearly all of Spike Lee's other films.The cast, once again, is brilliant. Denzel is very very very authentic, faithful, graphic, and lifelike. My brother is a jazz musician and I've met several of his fellow musicians. I'm seasoned when it comes to jazz musicians. Take my word for it, Denzel's performance is entirely true. Snipes is brilliantly, swaggeringly audacious. Joie Lee comprehensively draws our sympathy towards her sensitive, self-conscious character and away from the elegant and subtly compelling Cynda Williams. Spike Lee himself is one of the most compelling characters. Samuel L. Jackson entertains in one of his millions and billions of early bit roles.If I were to say, "I'm in the mood for a Spike Lee joint," this would not be one of the first films I pick, but it's different and enthralling. I mean, it's directed by Spike Lee, so how can it not be?