For the most part it's all rather pleasant, if somewhat aimless. full review

Lee's typically paradoxical statements on race and religion muddle the narrative, and his old stylistic tricks -- saturated color schemes, characters addressing the camera -- aren't exactly inspired. full review

The story is static for about 90 minutes, then rises to action, but in a way that seems impromptu, either made up on the spot or ill-considered. full review

When Spike Lee fails he fails big, and he goes down in flames with "Red Hook Summer." full review

Lee's latest film feels like several intriguing ideas in search of an over-arching story. full review

This coming-of-age portrait provides one more instance of Lee as one of this country's finest cinematic regionalists. full review

In truth, the film fizzles as much as it fumes. There is a kind of lassitude that sets in, even as it builds toward some kind of reckoning. full review

It's a scramble, marked by the unruly variety of visual strategies Lee prefers. full review

Here is Lee at his most spontaneous and sincere, but he could have used another screenplay draft, and perhaps a few more transitional scenes. full review

This is an illustrated lecture - a jumbled, rushed cinematic rant. The ideas are there. The story is not. full review

A movie that's alive and spontaneous and surprising is a rare enough thing to encounter-especially one that manages to address subjects as divisive and painful as inner-city black poverty without getting maudlin or preachy. full review

Welcome back, Spike. It's good to see you again. full review

Spike Lee now seems to be trying to be the world's oldest student filmmaker. Take out the rookie mistakes from "Red Hook Summer," and there'd be nothing left. full review

Peters brings a magical energy to the movie's most laggard moments, infusing a so-what drama with a must-see performance. full review

From a storytelling perspective, Red Hook Summer is an absolute mess. full review

Lee grapples with a number of urgent themes, but his approaches are often either too direct (we are repeatedly pummeled by the bishop's fiery preaching) or too circuitous (the verbal and visual meanderings are sometimes valuable, and sometimes not). full review

A clear failure, yet Lee is getting at things that mystify him. full review

Spike Lee's messy, meandering, bluntly polemical "Red Hook Summer" has one crucial ingredient: a raw vitality. full review

[The movie] isn't a smooth slow jam... but one doesn't go to Spike Lee pictures in order to solicit a complacent experience anyway. full review

Potently expresses, both aesthetically and narratively, a sense of inclusiveness and diversity. full review