Pretty verbose bus ride, huh? How chatty, exactly? Well, let's just say that somewhere between the fifth or sixth discourse on Black Identity and The Thoughts Of Minister Farrakhan I hoped against hope that the bow tie wearing Farrakhan-ite who you kept expecting to say or DO something, would finally tell the rest of his fellow passengers to "shut the hell up! I'm trying to sleep here."
So yeah, a way too talky journey. And with an alarming dearth of story or action that is the kiss of death for most genres of film and especially so for a road picture, like this. Because it's Spike Lee some of the dialogue is quite funny and occasionally perceptive. Plus, there are some fine performances from a great ensemble of black actors like Charles Dutton, Ossie Davis, Wendell Pierce and the recently lost way too soon Andre Braugher. But this is not one of Lee's stronger works, in my opinion. Give it a generous C plus for the memory of Andre.
So yeah, a way too talky journey. And with an alarming dearth of story or action that is the kiss of death for most genres of film and especially so for a road picture, like this. Because it's Spike Lee some of the dialogue is quite funny and occasionally perceptive. Plus, there are some fine performances from a great ensemble of black actors like Charles Dutton, Ossie Davis, Wendell Pierce and the recently lost way too soon Andre Braugher. But this is not one of Lee's stronger works, in my opinion. Give it a generous C plus for the memory of Andre.