From Spike Lee comes this vibrant semi-autobiographical portrait of a school-teacher, her stubborn jazz-musician husband and their five kids living in '70s Brooklyn.
Acting
Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo devastate in every scene.
Direction
Spike's most personal—he literally put himself in it.
Score
Curtis Mayfield and 70s soul perfection throughout.
Director
Spike Lee
Alfre Woodard
Carolyn Carmichael
Delroy Lindo
Woody Carmichael
David Patrick Kelly
Tony Eyes / Jim
Zelda Harris
Troy Carmichael
Sharif Rashed
Wendell Carmichael
Tse-Mach Washington
Joseph Carmichael
Christopher Knowings
Nate Carmichael
José Zúñiga
Tommy La La
Isaiah Washington
Vic Powell
Spike Lee
Snuffy
Vondie Curtis-Hall
Uncle Brown
Frances Foster
Aunt Song
Manny Perez
Hector
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'anamorphic' Tennessee scenes were shot with a special lens to compress the image, making the white suburb feel claustrophobic and alien.
Spike based the Carmichael family on his own—his father was a jazz bassist, his mother a teacher. The argument scenes? Basically documentaries.
US
