She Hate Me (2004)

This, the latest from uneven auteur Spike Lee, may be the most impressive failure I've ever seen. What we have here is Spike in pissed-off-satirical mode. The problem is that when Spike gets his dander up, he's one of those guys who gets so angry that he's reduced to sputtering. He's got things to say about modern corporate culture, but he loses his way with his preposterous plotting and his tendency towards too-muchness (which results in about twelve subplots too many in a film that didn't need any). But then, does he lose his way? I mean, complaining about the preposterousness of the premise is pointless, because it's so out-there that it can't be taken seriously on any rational level. So clearly we're in the realm of metaphor. And once you get past the outlandishness of it, it's a decent metaphor. The emphasis isn't on the sex but on the money -- it's a film about how unfettered, Enron-style capitalism eventually turns everyone into a whore. You can allow yourself to be whored out and profit, or you can fight it and eventually see yourself destroyed by the system. In this light, the lesbian angle seems the only way to go -- it's the only way to keep the arrangement purely business. It works on one level even as it fails on another. Also, there's credence to Ebert's theory that Lee is exploding stereotypes by indulging them to their nth degree. So... yeah. It's a frustrating film, with lots of good moments and lots of bad ones (the subplot with Q-Tip is fairly dire, even if he and lead Anthony Mackie play off each other well). It's strange and messy and kind of likeable. It's not good, but I get the feeling I'll end up seeing it again some day soon, and I wouldn't tell you not to see it if you were interested.

Grade: C+