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Mo' Better Blues

Drama Opens with Bleek as a child learning to play the trumpet, his friends want him to come out and play but mother insists he finish his lessons. Bleek grows into adulthood and forms his own band - The Bleek Gilliam Quartet. The story of Bleek's and Shadow's friendly rivalry on stage which spills into their professional relationship and threatens to tear apart the quartet.
Author Review
United StatesUnited States Variety "A Spike Lee personality piece dressed in jazz trappings that puffs itself up like Bird but doesn’t really fly."  NEG
United StatesUnited States
rogerebert.com
rogerebert.com
"'Mo' Better Blues' is not a great film, but it's an interesting one, which is almost as rare. (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"  POS
United StatesUnited States
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
"For the only time in his remarkable career, Spike Lee has failed to tell it like it is."  NEG
United StatesUnited States
Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
"Though it's full of striking visual ideas and actorly turns, it never fully convinces; the characters and plot are too familiar and predictable"  NEU
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Empire
Empire
"It's tight, suspenseful, funny and packed with great music."  POS
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Time Out
Time Out
"A messy, meandering script ensures that, despite stylish camerawork and sturdy acting, this lengthy indulgence succeeds neither as jazz movie nor as cautionary tale."  NEG
United StatesUnited States
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
"The resulting film is at once alluring and disappointing (...) Lee achieves a hypnotic intimacy that evokes the films of Martin Scorsese (...) Lee’s weaknesses as a filmmaker have never been more glaring"  NEU
United StatesUnited States
The Washington Post
The Washington Post
"The best thing about this jazzy love story is the combined presence of everyone (...) The script's twists and turns (...) seem narratively inorganic"  NEU
United StatesUnited States
The New York Times
The New York Times
"Lee's concerns travel from romance to creativity to commerce and from satire to genuine tragedy."  POS
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Radio Times
Radio Times
"Spike Lee suffers under the weight of his own ambition here (...) [Washington provides] plenty of powerful scenes (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"  NEU
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