Message papers over cracks

Rating: 6/10 (25 June 2020)

Delroy Lindo is due an Oscar for his performance as Paul, the angriest of the 'Da 5 Bloods'. This means the film is much better than some of the low rankings I have seen on this site. Its strength is its allegory about black men who came of age in the 1960s and the lessons it can teach a younger generation. Paul (Lindo) has anger management issues and is ill-informed, of the three other Vietnam vets one takes opiods, one is a drunk and one a businessman who lost his fortune from spending foolishly. Spike Lee gives each of them redemption, but the redemption he offers Paul is off the charts, a truly moving scene (I think his name is a nod to St Paul). The film's weaknesses are well documented on this site; Lee suspends incredulity again and again with simplistic plot devices and cardboard cut-out side characters. But, Delroy Lindo (and Spike Lee's direction of him) saves the film.