Spike Lee revisits Brooklyn in the uneven ‘Red Hook Summer’

In the opening scene of Red Hook Summer, Spike Lee’s latest “joint,” 13-year-old Flik Royale (Jules Brown) travels from Atlanta to Red Hook, Brooklyn to live with his preacher grandfather, Da Good Bishop Enoch Rouse (Clarke Peters). The look of the film suggests it could be a documentary, and a primitively shot opening scene sets the tone for a long-winded, meandering movie that attempts to capture the nuances of one kid’s complicated life.

The movie, which opened in limited release last week and opens wider this Friday, is a low budget affair that mirrors early Lee films such as 1986’s She’s Gotta Have It and 1989’s Do the Right Thing, both of which were also set in Brooklyn. But unlike those movies, it doesn’t have a compelling story and is filled with clichés.

Given that Enoch doesn’t have even have a TV, Flik, who carries an iPad with him just about everywhere he goes, isn’t particularly happy about the living arrangements. And, once his grandfather (whose motto is “we live in a world of should-not-be”) starts preaching to him about accepting Jesus into his life and going to church, Flik becomes even more alienated. He fortunately has a good friend in Chazz (Toni Lysaith), a neighborhood girl who wants to break out of the projects as badly as he does. She serves as a lifeline of sorts, teaching him the street smarts he needs to get by.

It’s actually a bit of surprise when we realize “da good” bishop isn’t so good after all. One day in the middle of a sermon, a parishioner calls him out for his sins in front of the entire congregation. It’s an ugly confrontation that Lee exploits when he has the bishop then explains his transgression to Flik. It’s an emotionally wrenching scene that serves as the film’s strongest moment.

While the minimal approach is intentional, the bad acting isn’t. Brown is unremarkable. And the same goes for the young Lysaith, who often appears to be reading her lines. Even Peters can’t give his character much depth, partly because he regularly speaks in platitudes even when he’s not on the pulpit. Though its personal approach does have its charm, the two-hour film is just too slow-moving and shoddily edited.