Ok, so let's get the bad news about this unique picture over with - it has to do with a preacher and child molestation. You know this is Spike so he's rarely light-handed about his feelings and that makes the curve ball that comes about 3/4 of the way through feel like it hit you in your temple. It's the all-time anti-spoiler as it's better you know this ahead of watching the picture.
It doesn't help that the film is centered around a church and a pastor - put it all together and this becomes Spike Lee's one sheep in his herd of films that's way over to the side by itself, it's up to you to approach. I've read things like "a hot mess" and "Spike's worst film" but this is simply not true. It has all the structure of his other work and many of the famous Spike tropes are here like actors on the back of camera dolly, the music, loaded dialog and great actors.
Really great actors, the two kid leads are spot-on, Clarke Peters has never been better and the film's real high points go to the dearly departed Thomas Jefferson Byrd who appeared in seven Spike Lee Joint's, this being his second-to-last.
If you can approach this film with an open mind and more objective posture, you should enjoy this film. It's definitely under-rated and under-appreciated imho and was shot in three weeks guerilla style so I would also watch this if you're in film school and try and find the featurette. Available VOD, basically his only low-budget feature since his first. 2.75 stars/2.75
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