InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

ElMaruecan82 Following a brilliant streak of socio-politically charged movies such as "Do the Right Thing", "Jungle Fever" and "Malcolm X", "Crooklyn" comes as a Spike Lee joint in the same vein than "Mo' Better Blues", a lighthearted slice of African-American life in New-York neighborhood centering on a protagonist coming to terms with his personal demons and in the same time, inspiring us in our own real-life situations… another gem that makes me believe that, directing-wise, Lee's "gotta have it."And Spike Lee movies never imitate one another and "Crooklyn" works on its own level, a "N" that evokes both Nostalgia and Neighborhood, Brooklyn where Spike Lee grew up in the 60's and 70's, a Brooklyn misled by that pun in the title, for there's no crook in this Brooklyn, the closest characters to criminals spend time sniffing glue, the closest moments to confrontations are family arguments and the closest to an act of violence is an accidental punch in the face of a noisy neighbor. I don't think I'm spoiling the film by inviting you to lower your guard and stop being afraid, this is a nostalgic film, a coming-of-age story whose heroine is 10-year old Troy (Zelda Harris).It seems like a decade starts to induce nostalgia when it's 20 years old, and like "Dazed and Confused" one year earlier, the 70's started to tickle the mind of nostalgic film-makers, "Crooklyn" is set in 1973 according to some researches, a time where soul music, TV sitcoms, in fact TV and candies defined the most of childhood culture. In one strike of film-making simple genius, the opening credits feature all the games kids were playing at that time and the trivia says that none of the child actors knew how to play these games anymore … these are the devastating effects of the video game generation, to which I belong. But being born in the early 80's, I remembered some of these games and I don't think I got interested in video-games that early, there is more to explain their sinking into oblivion.And the reason has to do with my preconceived ideas about the film, being a Spike Lee movie set in a African-American neighborhood, I expected scenes of violence to punctuate the film, I expected seeing one of the children being confronted to drugs or the use of a gun, I thought that Troy shoplifting and lying to her mother would ultimately lead her to a dangerous descent into crime, I thought the father would be an abusive alcoholic man who'd abuse his wife, and if one thing, it was Alfre Woodward, as the mother, who got on my nerves more than the cool and surprisingly sweet and tender Woody, played by a great Delroy Lindo. No disrespect to Alfre, she just reminded me of my own mother, you have fun with your Dad but not moms and apparently this was still true in Lee's years.Once again, Spike Lee comes with a surprise and shows his capability to be warm and tender, funny and sweet, conveying the real feelings of childhood, but it's not the kind of magic resuscitated through childhood memories, Spike Lee was a teenager in the 70's and didn't sugarcoat his memories or those of his sister Joyce who co-wrote he film, those were really innocent times where kids could be left near the home without fearing getting a stray bullet or something else, kids could play outside, could dance, their only homemade distraction were eating and watching TV, which left plenty of room for imagination. Times have changed, and video-games and violence-oriented TV programs say more about the changes of mentalities and environment that confined kids in the TV room.A film like "Crooklyn" can appeal to any kid who's grown up in any neighborhood, basically, all of us, because it simply tells the story from a grown-up's perspective of how great were these years, when family made one, when our parents were young, where each year featured a new step forward into life. I remembered when I was a kid, each birthday, each number had something special 7, 8, 9, 10 etc. etc. Now, I'm 32 and I couldn't care less … I guess childhood is the magical part of our lives because we can't be nostalgic as kids, we don't have any references from the past, and the future is like in light-years, like stuck forever in childhood, we cherish the present and embrace life with all the fun and all the greatness. And this is what Troy' story is about.Troy is a little girl who tries to make her place in a family full of boys, she's bullied but she always has a comeback, she's sweet and curious, and through her journey, we turn the pages of all inner childhood diary, remembering these days where adults were untouchables or when we had to spend time in a stranger's house. The film features a chapter set in the South where Troy spends some vacation I her Uncle's family, we take a cool breath of fresh air with a cute friendship with a girl. Spike Lee would shoot the scene in a panoramic views but I agree that was unnecessary for the film didn't need these stylistic tricks, it was a novelty on its own. Anyway, after that vacation, you'd expect things to change for Toy, it will but not as you expect, and again, Spike Lee knows how to surprise you.The film is served by a wonderful casting, a great soundtrack reviving all the classics of the 70's, some nice supporting performance, from David Patrick Kelly as the constantly bullied neighbor weirdo to Isaiah Washington and a scene-stealing Aunt Queenie …I still have a soft spot for the performance of Delroy Lindo as a sweet and caring father.

viewsonfilm.com The closing credits of Spike Lee's 1994 film Crooklyn state that what we saw as an audience was a work of fiction. They also state that Crooklyn had more than one writer and those writers (Lee and his real life brother and sister) drew some of their inspiration from their own lives growing up in a low rent Brooklyn neighborhood. If this is the case and the film is not exactly a true story, then after a recent viewing, I started to wonder why and for what reason, it was made. Now granted, Spike Lee always has good intentions. And most of the time he gets energetic performances from his cast. However, in Crooklyn's case, the material he is saddled with (the story and the monotonous, yet accurate script) is entirely lightweight, and it doesn't have the strength to fill a 2 hour-plus exercise. Whatever conflicts that occur between the characters (characters that fade in and out of the proceedings) are never fully realized and resolved, the one event or tragedy that occurs toward the film's conclusion does not fully beef up any dramatic momentum, and most of the scenes involving the main family depicted (the Carmichael family) feel tedious and in serious need of editing. In essence, Crooklyn would have more effective as a side plot of Lee's family childhood included in a T.V. special/documentary about his life as a director. What came out in 1994 though, is an authentic, yet unnecessary portrayal of a family of 5 kids (four boys, 1 girl) living in Brooklyn, NY in the summer of 1973.Using many unknown child actors and casting himself as a neighborhood glue sniffing junkie, Lee shoots a film that follows the lives of the fictional family, the Carmichaels. They consists of a hard working school teacher (always tough as nails Alfre Woodard), her calming, hard- up musician husband (with this film and Lee's Clockers, Delroy Lindo is now one of my true acting heroes), and their five children (the film slowly begins to put its main focus on the only daughter in group being Troy, played with confidence by Zelda Harris). Although they are the main tenants of the building they are living in, they are struggling to make ends meet (they fail to pay the electric bill for everybody else and the building loses power) and Carolyn Carmichael (Woodard) being the sole provider, puts a strain on the family dynamic. She and Woody Carmichael (Lindo) fight and argue because he is not able to make any money playing his music (he's a piano player and composer). Crooklyn also in the smallest detail takes a look at some of the other people that live on the same block as the Carmichaels. They are side characters that don't get a lot of screen time to establish themselves, let alone add to the workings of the plot (a plot with a very thin skin). As I stated a couple sentences ago, watching this exercise, you begin to realize that the young Troy becomes the focal point of the movie in general. It's not entirely known upfront. But by the last twenty minutes or so, you understand why. By then it's too late because too much running time is passed and not enough has happened. If the whole entire film focused on this little girl, I think it might have worked. I stress the words might have.When it's all said and done, this is a harmless motion picture that seemed close to Lee's heart. I don't think it's a bad film by any means. I just feel that the subject matter wasn't deep enough or potent enough to engage an audience seeking entertainment value or for lack of a better word, excitement. Yes, the period detail is pretty solid with the soundtrack being composed of some 70's classics and a few rap tunes. The opening credit sequence is excellent, depicting a normal routine of childhood antics (double dutch jump rope, tag, street races, etc.) on a hot summer day in NYC. And the closing credits are a delight leading with an intro by Soul Train creator Don Cornelius followed by a dance sequence on said T.V. show. But, in between, the movie glides by without really saying anything or provoking any deep meaning. So my high end analysis is this: instead of watching people's lives on screen, the only way to really embrace this film, is by being in that place and time, and actually inhabiting some form of their existence. If you lived in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood back in 1973, this flick might be your cup of tea. If you didn't, decide to take in a viewing, and wanted to immerse yourself in the world of Crooklyn, (you know its characters and its story) by hook or "crook", you'll ultimately feel cheated at what you just saw.

dunsuls-1 Released in 1994 and running a little long at 115 minutes.My favorite hard ass director goes soft trying to be edgy in this whimsical story of growing up in Brooklyn back in the day.I loved it but not as a Spike picture,rather as remembering what a neighborhood was all about and family and kids and just because they are all black there is a lot I remember like it.About as edgy as it gets is Spike in a small role as Snuffy,gets hit in the head by Zelda Harris as Troy,the real star of this film and gezz I wonder where she went?? Alfre Woodard as Carolyn Carmichael and Delroy Lindo as Woody Carmichael are great as the parents who are trying to raise their 5 kids in Crooklyn but it's hard and there are tragic things that happen and at the end young Troy is now the anchor of the family and it's future is not certain.The soundtrack is wonderful representing music from the 70's,the acting is first rate as Spike always finds talent and the story, while soft by Spike standards ,is still very strong by white standards and sad in many ways besides being hopeful.I'm white and was raised in Brooklyn and I thought I had it easy after seeing this film.

sexyleo65 I love this movie. It reminded me of when I was a young girl growing up in the 70's. We should have more movies like this one. Good work Spike. I watch this movie with my two children who was born in the early part of the 80's and they enjoyed it as well, asking me all kinds of questions,Brought a smile to my face as I told them about me and my siblings growing up in the 70's. You can actually see how times has change, making up your own games and finding some positive things to do with your time.Like playing jump rope.what about marbles or Jacks. Do they even make them anymore? Then I really love the part when Mom came home and woke up everyone in the house.Now that was a blast from the past.