Spike Lee is one of the greatest American filmmakers in the history of cinema. The Brooklyn-born auteur writes, directs, produces, and often acts in his own films, a trend that began back when he was just a twenty-something indie filmmaker trying to make a name for himself.
And that he did. The phrase “A Spike Lee Joint” has become synonymous with his brand in such iconic films as Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, She’s Gotta Have It, BlacKkKlansman, and several others. Truth be told, Lee deserves even more credit for his career. Here are the 10 most underrated Spike Lee Joints!
Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus
In Lee’s first legit foray into the horror realm, he opted to take an experimental approach with the narrative. As a result, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus has polarized a lot of people.
Seen by very few, the film centers on Dr. Green (Stephen Tyrone Williams), who stumbles on a cryptic African artifact that somehow turns him into a quasi-vampiric monster with a penchant for human blood. His only refuge? The ganja, of course. Ganza Hightower (Zaraah Abrahams), on the other hand, is a sneaky seductress with her own agenda.
Girl 6
Lee made four or five different movies in 1996, one of which includes the overlooked Girl 6. While many lambasted the film for a thin story and lack of character development, the subtext was sort of slept on.
Written by Suzan-Lori Parks, the film concerns a wannabe actress who feels the need to resort to phone sex for steady work. Had this movie been made now, during the Me Too movement, perhaps it would be received differently. The movie underscores female inequality, the stigma of sex work, and does so with a breezy light touch.
School Daze
Lee’s second feature suffered no sophomore slump. Instead, he delivered one of the funniest and most authentic looks at life at an all-black college.
Set in the American south, the film mixes collegiate hijinks with a social commentary about the differences certain students engender. It’s what Lee does best, fuse an important topic with highly entertaining characters, dialogue, and music. The movie helped jumpstart the careers of Larry Fishburn, Tisha Campbell, and Giancarlo Esposito!
Get On The Bus
Get on the Bus is truly one of the most overlooked Lee joints of all. The story is so simple, but the performances are so tremendous, and the subject matter so important that everyone ought to see it at least once.
Ahead of the African-American march on Washington D.C. in 1996, a busload of wildly disparate African-Americans from all walks of life make the pilgrimage to protest. Along the way, deep philosophical questions are discussed involving race, religion, sexual preference, police brutality, societal inequality, etc.
Crooklyn
In what would make a great double-feature with his 2012 film Red Hook Summer, Crooklyn taps into the nostalgia of childhood in some of the most warmhearted ways imaginable. But it’s never compromising or unrealistic.
The bright and bustling semiautobiographical tale of Lee’s childhood in Brooklyn during the 70s is a must-see for all Lee fans. As a jazz musician and his stern wife try to raise five children in 1973, we get a glimpse into the way Lee came of age as an artistic spirit.
Clockers
In a hard-hitting crime tale featuring stellar performances by Mekhi Phifer, Harvey Keitel, and Delroy Lindo, Clockers is one of Lee’s best films. And yet, very few people mention it when discussing Lee’s top titles.
The focus of the story rests on Strike (Phifer), a lactose-intolerant kid from the Brooklyn projects who is forced into a life of drug-dealing. When his brother confesses to a murder, Strike must work with Det. Rocco Klein (Keitel) in order to help keep his family out of jail. Gritty, complex, and highly entertaining!
Mo’ Better Blues
Prior to lending Denzel a role of a lifetime two years later in Malcolm X, Lee put Washington on the main stage as Jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam in the superb film, Mo’ Better Blues. We should all be thankful!
With wonderful music and a winsome supporting cast, the film depicts the rise of Bleek Gilliam, a young musician who goes on to form his own jazz quartet in contemporary New York. When a rival sax player (Wesley Snipes) threatens to take his place, Bleek shows what he’s made of.
Summer Of Sam
Despite favorable ratings among critical circles, few people ever bring up Summer of Sam when discussing Lee’s finest work. Straight up, this needs to change ASAP!
The film is set during the 1977 heatwave in New York, during which the entire city is on a knife’s edge of panic and paranoia due to the serial killer Son of Sam claiming bodies across the Bronx. Lee nails the heightened sense of unease and mistrust across a wide swath of disparate New Yorkers trying to remain alive.
25th Hour
With two excellent performances from Edward Norton and the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lee’s 25th Hour remains one of his most unfairly dismissed movies of all. Perhaps it was the casting of NFL star Tony Siragusa as the heavy that did it.
Regardless, the movie about drug-dealer Monty Brogan (Norton) given one last day before turning himself into jail is truly masterful. Monty is left to ruminate, regret, celebrate, and reconcile his relationship with his girlfriend before going away.
Bamboozled
No film of Lee’s is as important, nor has been as misunderstood, as his blistering treatise on race via the 2000 film Bamboozled. None!
Part satire and part scathing indictment on the racial dynamics in America, the movie centers on two powerful black (Damon Wayans) and white execs (Michael Rappaport) greenlighting a new-generational minstrel show for the masses. When the show becomes a surprise hit, tempers flare. The movie conjures the darkest side of American racism, from insensitive black-face to the subjugation of African-Americans for entertainment purposes and the like.
