Crooklyn

Spike Lee and his siblings Cinque Lee and Joie Lee co-wrote this nostalgic but unglamorized look at a family growing up in Brooklyn in the 1970s, inspired by their own childhood. Woody Carmichael (Delroy Lindo) is a jazz musician whose career is in a slump; he once made a good living as a session musician, but he has moved away from it to devote himself to more serious music, a choice that has not worked out well from a financial standpoint. His wife Carolyn (Alfre Woodard) works as a school teacher to keep food on the table. The Carmichaels have five children, a bright and introspective daughter named Troy (Zelda Harris) and four sons with a habit of causing trouble, and they all share an apartment in a brownstone in Brooklyn. Crooklyn follows the Carmichaels as the kids learn the funny and painful lessons of growing up, Mom and Dad balance their love for each other against the financial and personal difficulties of the creative life, and they all try to get along with the often eccentric neighbors on their block. Crooklyn’s soundtrack is enlivened by classic 70s R&B hits, including selections by Sly and the Family Stone, The Jackson Five, Curtis Mayfield, The Staple Singers, and The Chambers Brothers., Spike Lee’s semi-autobiographical film stars Zelda Harris as the ten-year-old sister of four older brothers who has to cope with the tensions between her father and mother (Delroy Lindo and Alfre Woodard) in the mid-’70s of Brooklyn, New York. The street humour is nicely balanced by the point-of-view drama of a child growing up too quickly., Semi-autobiographical tale from Spike Lee based on his childhood growing up in 70s New York. Young Troy watches her parents fight over money, and gets a chance to see how the other half lives when she visits wealthy cousins in the country., Episodic comedy-drama about a struggling Brooklyn family in the early 1970s. A hardworking mother finds herself struggling to contain her unruly children, and with her husband becoming increasingly unreliable, she is soon forced to send her only daughter to stay with relatives. But when the little girl returns, tragedy awaits., Portrait of a close-knit black family living in 1970s Brooklyn, as seen through the eyes of the youngest daughter. This deeply moving comedy-drama follows them as they deal with money woes, eccentric neighbors and the sons’ troublemaking., Portrait of a close-knit black family living in 1970s Brooklyn, as seen through the eyes of the youngest daughter. This comedy-drama follows them as they deal with money woes, eccentric neighbors and the sons’ troublemaking.