Not only is Spike Lee one of the most creative film stylists around, his cinematic creations are incredibly topical. Whereas Do the Right Thing dealt with the public issue of racial hatred, Mo'...

Not only is Spike Lee one of the most creative film stylists around, his cinematic creations are incredibly topical. Whereas Do the Right Thing dealt with the public issue of racial hatred, Mo' Better Blues revolves around the difficulty modern men have in finding the proper balance between work and love in their lives. Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington) is a trumpet player who leads a quintet with a loyal following in New York's jazz clubs. As a child, he was forced to practice his trumpet rather than play with his friends. Now his music always comes first, even though two women vie for his love. They are Indigo (Joie Lee), a patient schoolteacher, and Clarke (Cynda Williams), an aspiring singer. Gilliam's workaholism keeps him from noticing the serious gambling addiction of Giant (Spike Lee), his best friend from childhood and the band's inept manager. Nor does he pick up on the ambition of his saxophonist, Shadow Henderson (Wesley Snipes), whose concerns about the musical direction of the quintet are well founded. Needless to add, he treats the two women abominably, alternating between ignoring and adoring them. Mo' Better Blues transcends the jazz film genre by its exploration of the limitations of investing one's entire being in work. When Bleek's face is injured when he is trying to save Giant from being beaten to death by two goons hired by a loan shark, he loses the magic that he once had on the trumpet. The outstanding scene where Bleek attempts to return performing, but realizes his music will not ever be the same is one of the best in the film. The film ends with an idealized portrait of the protagonist enwrapped in the healing arms of familial love, trying to make sure his son doesn't repeat his mistakes. Bleek has swung to the other side of the pendulum and still not found the promised land where work and love are in balanced. But writer, producer, and director Spike Lee has at least staked out the territory in a creative way.