Spike Lee's best by a country mile.

Rating: 9/10 (23 July 2006)

It's a good thing Spike Lee was finally able to scrape together the necessary funds to finish this film and make it his way. Lee had never made anything even close to this good before it, and will likely never make anything this good in the future. His low-budget films are usually watchable, but ultimately too self-indulgent to really hit the mark completely. Malcolm X however is nothing short of great film-making. Denzel Washington couldn't have done it any better as allows the slain civil rights activist to in essence rise from the dead and acquaint himself with a whole new generation.
The film clocks in at an amazing 202 minutes. That's three hours and twenty-two minutes for those who might not be used to seeing films longer than an hour and a half. Despite the film's length, it is so well made that none of it really causes the viewer to daydream. Maybe we didn't need to see so much of Malcolm's life prior to his conversion to Islam, but I did not regret seeing so much of it. We see almost everything illegal from his past: drugs, robbery, racketeering, you name it. Malcolm was into some serious stuff in his youth. The film hits it's stride once he's sent to prison and meets up with one of the higher-ups from the Nation of Islam. We see Malcolm take to his new religion like a fish to water, and once he gets out of jail, he's preaching the gospel of the honorable Elijah Muhammad to anyone who'll listen.
Over time, we see Malcolm rise to great prominence within the Nation, until he eventually runs afoul of the leadership and has to start his own ministry. Once this happens, Malcolm is a marked man, and his violent demise is just a matter of time. Malcolm only lived to age 39, and Spike Lee shows us just about everything of note within his lifespan.
The film has numerous strengths. It is incredibly well directed, acted, written, and photographed. The supporting cast all hit the right notes with their roles. Delroy Lindo plays Malcolm's old number running boss. Albert Hall is cold and stoic as the man who introduces Malcolm to Islam, then later turns against him. Angela Basset is typically outstanding as Malcolm's wife Betty. Has this woman ever given a bad performance in anything? Al Freman Jr. is also quite memorable as Elijah Muhammad. When all is said and done, he is the character we the audience wish to know more about. Spike Lee is also there as you might expect in the early scenes as Malcolm's hustler friend Shorty.
This film belongs to Washington, though. Many who remembered the real Malcolm X claim his performance is right on in physical and spoken terms. Washington was nominated, but lost out to Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) for the Best Actor nod. Was this justified? Hard to say. Al can be tough to beat.
The film was a decent enough success at the box office to the point where you would have thought Lee would try bigger films like this more often. He hasn't produced anything nearly as good since, but he's his own man and he's presumably making the kinds of films he wants to.
By all means necessary, Malcolm X is worth 9 of 10 stars.
The Hound.