Three ethnic comedy-dramas have come to town on the same day, including two withsubplots about a segment of the African-American culture that is seldom portrayed in the movies — the upper middle-class.
Oddly enough, both of those films — Spike Lee's "Crooklyn" and Matty Rich's "The Inkwell" — are also set in the mid-1970s. Paul Rodriguez's "A Million to Juan" is set in modern-day East Los Angeles.
— "CROOKLYN" is the latest from Spike Lee, who directed, produced and has a small role. He also co-wrote the screenplay with his brother (Cinque Lee) and sister (Joie Susannah Lee, who also has a supporting role), and there are autobiographical resonances throughout the story of a family with five children living in Brooklyn during the '70s.
The father (Delroy Lindo) is an aspiring musician who can't seem to concentrate on his music and who consequently isn't contributing to the household budget. The mother (Alfre Woodard) earns the family's modest living as a school teacher, and she strives mightily to keep her brood in line in their rundown tenement building. It doesn't help that she has to scream at the kids to clean up and stop fighting, while he simply brings home ice cream and makes light of their problems.
But the focus here is on the children, in particular the lone daughter in the bunch — 10-year-old Troy, perfectly played by newcomer Zelda Harris — through whose eyes we see the film. Unfortunately, except for Troy, the children aren't nearly as well-drawn as the adults.
The film is episodic, with no specific plot to drive things along until the final quarter, when tragedy strikes. There are some other affecting sequences, however, and Lee and his siblings obviously have a love for the period, which is captured with a combination of irreverence and nostalgia.
As a director, however, Lee's standard bag of gimmicks reaches a most unpleasant zenith here. There is the usual constant music, which occasionally drowns out dialogue, and the screaming matches that make his films seem entirely too loud.
But this time he has outdone himself with an obnoxious 15-minute sequence shot entirely through an anamorphic lens, giving the effect of squeezing people and objects into skinny distortions. And my guess is that whole audiences will think the film is suddenly being projected through the wrong lens. The idea is to help the audience feel Troy's distress when she is forced to stay for a time with well-to-do relatives in the South, causing her to feel the life being squeezed out of her. But it's a self-indulgent device and does not serve the film well.
Still, there is much to enjoy here if you can get past the artificial elements, and though the final quarter takes an unexpected twist that could have used a bit more foundation, it is quite heartfelt and genuine — and owes much to Wood-ard's wonderful screen presence.
"Crooklyn" is rated PG-13 for violence, profanity, vulgarity and drugs.
— "THE INKWELL" is a follow-up to the low-budget, independent and very personal "Straight Out of Brooklyn," which garnered so much attention for 19-year-old filmmaker Matty Rich at the Sundance Film Festival three years ago.
But "The Inkwell" is a bigger-budget Hollywood picture, and Rich seems at sea with the material.
The setting is a strip of beach at Martha's Vineyard during the summer of '76, an area referred to as "The Inkwell" because it serves as a vacation spot for upscale blacks.
The story focuses on a 16-year-old boy (Larenz Tate), whose parents (Joe Morton, Suzanne Douglas) take him for a summer vacation to his aunt and uncle's place in Martha's Vineyard. The trouble is, his father is an ex-Black Panther and very liberal, while his uncle is an arch-conservative.
If this sounds like it has potential to be a ripe comedy, don't get your hopes up. Instead, it turns into a dull reworking of "The Summer of '42," with Larenz learning about life — and ultimately, about sex — as he finds himself attracted to a girl his own age and a couple of adult women.
But there is nothing to distinguish the film, aside from a lot of poorly staged slapstick, primarily from Tate, who makes his character so goofy that he would be better suited to a sitcom. Meanwhile, the parents seem to be trying to imitate the Bill Cosby-Richard Pryor segment of "California Suite."
This is an unfortunate misfire from a young director who has apparently bitten off more than he can chew. Let's hope he fares better next time.
"The Inkwell" is rated R for language, as well as some sex and nudity.
— "A MILLION TO JUAN" is also a bit too ambitious for its director, first-timer Paul Rodriguez, best known as a stand-up comic, though he has had roles in other films ("Made in America").
Rodriguez is charming as a Mexican immigrant in East Los Angeles, a widower with a young son who is having trouble making ends meet. One day, as he is selling oranges on a street corner, a white stretch limo drives up and Rodriguez is handed an envelope. Later, when he opens it, he finds a check for $1 million and a note that says there is a catch. He can't cash it, but he can use it for a month. Then he must return it, and he'll receive a gift.
As you might expect, this leads to his briefly living the rich life, only to find that wealth isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Though it is loosely based on a Mark Twain story, the film has echoes of everything from "Brew-ster's Millions" to Cheech Marin's "Born in East L.A." (in which Rodriguez had a role — and Marin has a cameo here).
Edward James Olmos and Ruben Blades also show up for bit parts, but the film's problems range from underdeveloped and cartooney characters to amateurish staging and maudlin soap opera plotting.
If it were funny enough, these elements might be forgiven. It's not.
"A Million to Juan" is rated PG for a couple of profanities and vulgarities.