By TUREKA TURK
Mlch g.n Citizen
The time was of afr , Don
Cornelius, halter top and
afro sheen. Harmony and
melody was enough to ex­
pr the tim . And family,
from what m t of us can re­
member, wasn't so far down
on the priority list. It was the
19709.
Like a thief, this decade is
quickly stealing our interest
in the 1990s. So far, its fash­
ion fills our closets, its mu ic
is sampled in rap, its movi
invade our VCRs, and, now,
its story is covering the silver
screen.
Spike Lee's latest film ven­
ture, Crooklyn, is a mild at­
tempt to get us to remember
what the 1970s was like. The
story of a Black family living
in Brooklyn, the film i a
loose adaptation of the Lee
Family story.
But not so I� that iden­
tifiable connection's can't be
made.
ATII r. Car-
michael (DelRoy Lindo), a
tru ling jazz m ician re­
fusing to succum b to the pres­
sure of using electric
instruments reflects the pa­
ternal head of the Lee house­
hold, Bill Lee.
The mother, Mrs. Car­
michael (Alfre Woodard), a
teacher.struggling to support
the family, mirrors the late
M.
bast but not Ie t, th only
daughter of th C rmi h I
family, Troy, and Joi - u n-
nah her If.
The tory, written by Joie,
bro her Cinque Le and
Spike is di ppointingly un­
eventful.
T tribu-
lations of being a child of the
1970s i a story that a whole
new generation of Bl ck pe0-
ple in this country will ble
to reI te to. But Crooklyn
comes up short. Unfortu-
nately, none of the events in
Crooklyn shine on the
like they should.
From little Troy's stint
with shoplif ing, the proc
of Brooklyn becoming more of
a Blac neighborhood durin
thi ra, th lift ofth h
VB. the orth, and the act of
dealing with death in the
family, the events of Crook­
lyn run together so un-notic-
. ingly that the im pact is lost.
I t is obvious that th Lee
clan, together, do not equal
the best writers, but Spike is
still untouchable in his di­
recting role. The film is a
(I-r) Chris Knowings, DelRoy Undo, Sharif Rashid, Alfre Woodard, Zelda HarriS, Carlton Williams and
TseMach Washington playa Brooklyn family in Spike Lee's moving comedy-dram "Crooklyn.
The Carmichael family in Spike Lee's comedy-drama "Crooklyn."
r ct. nd co-writ ·Crooklyn:
t in a Brooklyn hOU8 hold.
pik '.
met ..
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