This movie is a challenge for me to review. It’s a film about my beloved Chicago, so there was no way I wasn’t going to see it. It is also a Spike Lee joint and I have a variety of conflicting opinions of him as a Director. First and most importantly, Spike Lee offers unique and artistic films and, while one may or may not agree with his social messages, he always provides thought provoking visions. As a film enthusiast, what more could I ask for? That being said, even though all the above is true, I also find his film making amateurish at times and his dialogue and character interaction to be wooden and often caricatures instead of fully developed multi-dimensional people. Such is the case with ‘Chi-Raq’: an examination of gun and gang violence in south Chicago. For some reason, which I’m still not sure why, Spike Lee decided to present this essay in the form of a Greek play. By that I mean, there are narrators and choruses. Every character has a Greek name and most bewildering, if not annoying, the entire movie is done in rhyme (I’m not skilled enough to know if it was in Iambic pentameter, but it seemed like it). This did not add to my artistic appreciation, rather it ended up being distracting and taking away from the gravitas of the subject matter.
If one can get past that, it is difficult to get by the premise which he takes from the Greek play ‘Lysistrata’. A beautiful protagonist, not coincidentally named Lysistrata (played by the seductive Teyonah Parris), is tired of the death and devastation caused by the gang violence in her neighborhood. Given that her boyfriend Chi-Raq, (played by an unconvincing Nick Cannon) is a big part of the problem, Lysistrata decides to do something about it. After seeing a news report about a group of women in a village in Uganda withholding sex from their husbands until the war stopped, Lysistrata decides to implement a similar plan in Chicago. Suspending the disbelief, logistics, and practicality that something of this scope could be accomplished in a city the size of Chicago, I found the whole idea offensive and a step back in the women’s movement as the film suggests that only men are in charge and women’s only weapon is their sexuality. Spike Lee has been known for his misogyny in past films, but this takes it to a whole new level. Further, most of Spike Lee’s use of sexual blackmail seemed adolescent and played to racial stereotypes. In one scene, Lysistrata seduces the Confederate general who guards the Chicago armory which he has adorned with Confederate flags…Really? Heavy handed and playing to social and racial fears which don’t even exist in this part of the country.
The mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, has come out against this film and I can see why. It portrays the government establishment as the problem. D.B. Sweeney plays Mayor McCloud, but it is a thinly veiled caricature of Rahm Emanuel and not very flattering. I would be offended too if I were him. Despite that, Chicago is considered one of the most corrupt cities in the country and Spike Lee is right to exploit that fact as part of the overall picture. Given my own tastes, I find Lee’s extreme exaggerations hurt his argument rather than enhance it. Hyperbole is usually dismissed when used as support.
Despite all of this, I took much from this film and it did have a voice worth hearing. The gang violence and it’s consequences were sobering. In one particularly moving scene, a single mother (played by an intentionally unglamorous Jennifer Hudson), loses her only child in a gang cross fire. Her anguish was palpable and made all the more moving to anyone who knows that Jennifer Hudson lost many of her family members to gang violence on the same streets in Chicago. Her search for justice was powerful and difficult to watch. John Cussak plays Father Corridon with intensity. Usually films portray flamboyant preachers as villains, but Father Corridon is sincere in wanting to serve the community he was born to. His faith and love never waivers even as he despairs at the violence all around him. Anger and faith all rolled into one. I’m still not sure how to process one of my favorite actors, Samuel L Jackson who is the narrator Dolmedes. He infuses the classic Greek tradition of narration with a south side Chicago persona. He does it flawlessly, but I found the whole concept and character distracting and disrupting to the gravitas Spike Lee was trying to create.
I felt the point Spike Lee was trying to make was made early and the film disintegrated into absurdness by the third act. I’m not sure what type of mid-life crisis Spike Lee is going through, but the film obsessed on sexual situations and behaviors we giggled at in middle school. Lee’s misogyny and homophobia took away from his very insightful examinations of the plight of south side Chicago. The film solves nothing, but does give a glimpse into an intolerable situation that one would expect to find in the Middle East and not in our own country. Lots of cameos by familiar stars (no offense Wesley Snipes, but you are a little old to be playing a gang member) (Dave Chapelle, you are still awesome!!) and lots of topics that will have you talking after you see it. While I can’t say i thought it was a good film, it is an artistic vision which I always respect.
I give this film ** stars
