Overwiew :Spike Lee ventures into the world of jazz music with this stylish romantic drama. Forced by his mother to study the trumpet, Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington) has grown up to become the leader of a successful jazz quintet. Managed by his inept friend, Giant (Lee), Bleek clashes with fellow band member Shadow Henderson (Wesley Snipes). Making matters worse is Bleek’s romantic situation: trying to balance two different women at the same time--schoolteacher Indigo Downes (Joie Lee) and aspiring singer Clarke Bentancourt (Cynda Williams). In a hysterical moment, the line is blurred when, while making love, Bleek calls each woman by the other’s name. As he struggles to keep the quintet alive and flourishing, he must decide once and for all what it is he really wants: Indigo, Clarke, or his trumpet. The son of jazz musician Bill Lee, who contributes music to the film, Lee has written a script that crackles with witty behind-the-scenes banter that feels natural and fresh. Ernest R. Dickerson’s camera moves at an even brisker pace than in other Lee films, which compliments the bouncy soundtrack, making MO’ BETTER BLUES an entertaining ride.
rogerebert.suntimes.com - : Spike Lee's ''Mo' Better Blues'' is about a jazzman, but it's not really about jazz -- it's about work, about being so wrapped up in your career that you don't have space for relationships and you can't see where you're headed. It's a less passionate and angry film than Lee's previous work, ''Do the Right Thing,'' and less inspired, too. It's his fourth feature but suffers a little from the ''second-novel syndrome,'' the pressure on an artist to follow up a great triumph. But it's a logical film to come at this point in Lee's career, since it's about the time and career pressures on a young artist. more...
www.rollingstone.com - : At least a half-dozen movies are struggling to get out of the ambitious but maddening hodgepodge that is writer-producer-director Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues. At the center is a romantic triangle: Bleek Gilliam, the Brooklyn-born jazz trumpeter played by Denzel Washington, is juggling two women -- Indigo Downes, a dedicated schoolteacher played by Joie Lee (Spike's sister), and Clarke Bentancourt, an aspiring singer and sexual bombshell played by newcomer Cynda Williams. The women don't like being treated interchangeably, especially when Bleek buys them the same red dress and mixes up their names in bed. ''With men, it's a dick thing,'' Bleek says feebly. But Indigo and Clarke know it's more than that: It's a music thing. Bleek's heart belongs to his trumpet. more...
www.washingtonpost.com - : Few will accuse Spike Lee's ''Mo' Better Blues'' of being a masterpiece. But it's still full of the things that make Spike Lee films, well, Spike Lee films. Full of the fun, full of the spirit. more...
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