What I liked about this one was the focus. Spike Lee is often somewhat unfocused in his films, and this film forced him to hone in. We are on a bus from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. The destination is the Million Man March. That's it. What can Lee show us within these limited parameters?
What sort of men are on the bus? Young, old. Rich, poor. Willing, unwilling. Gay, straight. Dark, light.
And with nothing but time, we get to hear them tell their stories. Mistakes they've made, lessons they've learned, what they hope to learn by going to the March, and so on.
Naturally, there's some conflict between the men -- their stories, backgrounds, beliefs. There's also some unexpected camaraderie. In fact, maybe they learn more about themselves and each other during that long bus ride than they would if they had even made it to the event.
They didn't make it to the event? Well, they came close, but Jeremiah (Ossie Davis) up and has a heart attack right as they enter D.C. When they take him to the hospital, they have to decide: Stay with him or go to the March. At that point, the March doesn't seem that important.
Lee includes some footage from the March, including a snippet of Maya Angelou addressing the crowd. That was interesting to see. An event restricted to men, and yet, women were there, too.
Thirty years later, does anyone even remember that this event happened? Spike Lee obviously hoped it would be remembered, and that the March would be the catalyst for more activism in the Community. Did it happen? Or was this a one-off event that was quickly forgotten?
The film captures the interest, I think -- the desire to be a part of something bigger than yourself, even when it's not completely clear how being a part of that "thing" will make any real difference.
The real difference has to occur on an individual level. We need to know the people on the bus that we're riding with first.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
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