NFL
By: Matt Overton
The Eighth Joint
Spike Lee returns to the crime genre with his 1995 film Clockers. A few of his joints dipped their toes into the genre, but this is probably his first movie that could be described as one so explicitly. This movie follows a young Clocker, a term used to describe drug dealers who are on the clock 24 hours a day. Being raised in the projects means Strike has been exposed to all sorts of tragedies and hardship even at an early age. Strike shows some signs of a moral dilemma, but without any real alternatives to pushing drugs, he continues to do so while also inspiring a young kid called Shorty into following in his violent footsteps.
Delroy Lindo portrays the drug lord Rodney Little, who is adamant that his dealers never get high on their own supply. Rodney knows that crack is a one-way ticket to disaster, but has no qualms pushing it hard on his community. The only real voice of reason in this film comes from Shorty’s mother and Keith David’s Officer Andre. Both respectable citizens do their best to dissuade Strike from his ways while trying to protect Shorty from the consequences of becoming a Clocker.
But when there’s so little opportunity for someone like Strike, drugs and crime, and violence are all that’s left for him. His older brother works two jobs and has a family of his own, but even Victor can feel the pressure of being a Black man in America. Worked to the bone at his two jobs, too tired to spend time with his children afterwards, and an overwhelming sense of general exhaustion can push anyone to a breaking point. When Strike is handed down a hit job from the top, he realizes his clocking ways have led him to a point of no return.
There is a good story in here somewhere, but it lacked Spike’s usual energy and passion behind the camera. I was often left thinking about how closely this resembled Menace II Society and how much better that film was than this. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Clockers; it’s just pretty flat all around. The characters aren’t fleshed out much, the plot is a little too derivative, and Spike’s bleeding personality is unfortunately absent. Lindo is great as always, but with limited screen time, he can only carry so much.
