I don’t know what I was expecting from Spike Lee’s CHIRAQ, but it wasn’t this.
Not only do you have a fairly striking A-list cast, including John Cusack, Wesley Snipes, Dave Chappelle, Nick Cannon, Jennifer Hudson, Angela Bassett, and Samuel L. Jackson as the narrator, but the story also seems to have a fairly grand scope, centered around a feminist movement to withhold sex from men until the black-on-black violence in Chicago tempers down.
This looks awesomely Spike Lee, sharp, angry, lively, and funny, and with a controversial message at its center (he keeps comparing it to the moral dilemma posed at the end of DO THE RIGHT THING). It’s already gained controversy based on its title (I mean, no one wants to hear their city get compared to an enemy of the U.S.), and it looks like the subject matter is abrasive and ambitious enough to get people talking…which, of course, is not an accident. They filmed real protests for this film, so obviously the message at its heart is one that connects with the citizens of Chicago, and presumably the rest of the major cities in the country.
But me? You had me at John Cusack, Wesley Snipes, Dave Chappelle, and Samuel L. Jackson.
CHIRAQ will play in theaters on December 4th before appearing on Amazon Instant shortly thereafter.
