Mo' Better Blues (1990)

Jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam makes questionable decisions in his professional and romantic life.

Director:

Spike Lee

Writer:

Spike Lee

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Bleek Gilliam
Spike Lee	...	Giant
Wesley Snipes	...	Shadow Henderson (Sax)
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Left Hand Lacey (Piano)
Robin Harris	...	Butterbean Jones
Joie Lee	...	Indigo Downes
Bill Nunn	...	Bottom Hammer (Bass)
John Turturro	...	Moe Flatbush
Dick Anthony Williams	...	Big Stop Williams
Cynda Williams	...	Clarke Bentancourt
Nicholas Turturro	...	Josh Flatbush
Jeff 'Tain' Watts	...	Rhythm Jones (Druns)
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Madlock
Leonard L. Thomas	...	Rod
Charles Q. Murphy	...	Eggy

Storyline

Opens with Bleek as a child learning to play the trumpet, his friends want him to come out and play but mother insists he finish his lessons. Bleek grows into adulthood and forms his own band - The Bleek Gilliam Quartet. The story of Bleek's and Shadow's friendly rivalry on stage which spills into their professional relationship and threatens to tear apart the quartet.

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Plot Keywords:

trumpet | friend | stage | jazz | rage | 

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Taglines:

A Spike Lee joint.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Love Supreme

Filming Locations:

141st Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$16,153,600 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Denzel Washington's trumpet sound is played by Terence Blanchard and Branford Marsalis plays the sax for Wesley Snipes. The music you hear in the movie when the actors are "playing" was performed by Branford's working band which was used for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno when Jay Leno took over.

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Goofs

During the performance of Bleek's "Pop Top Urban 40 Funk Love ... Song", Bleek's headgear changes from hat to baseball cap.

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Quotes

Bleek: But the jazz, you know if we had to dep... if we had to depend upon black people to eat, we would starve to death. I mean, you've been out there, you're on the bandstand, you look out into the audience, what do you see? You see Japanese, you see, you see West Germans, you see, you know, Slabobic, anything except our people - it makes no sense. It incenses me that our own people don't realize our own heritage, our own culture, this is our music, man.
Shadow Henderson: That's bullshit.
Bleek: Why?
Shadow Henderson: [slurred] It's all ...

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Crazy Credits

Flavor Flave of the rap group Public Enemy spells out the letters in "Universal" as the studio logo appears on the screen.

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Connections

Referenced in Spike Lee's '25th Hour': The Evolution of an American Filmmaker (2003)

User Reviews

Interesting interpretation of life and love...

I really enjoyed this film. Everyone has a Bleek in his life: someone whose love of his life is all he knows, wants to know, etc. However, we always lose the love of our life for various reasons. Then, what do you do when the love of your life is suddenly taken from you? That is this film's theme. Bleek's only love was jazz music. Bleek's music was the only thing that mattered to him. Music overrode everything: an incompetent manager (who was his best friend), his lovers, and the contentment of his bandmates (the money issue which is related to having an incompetent manager). When Bleek lost the love of his life (watch the film to learn why), he was forced to make some hard choices about his life and face some unpleasant truths (something we've all had to do).

I enjoyed the score and the jazz pieces included in this film (after all, Bleek played the trumpet). I really liked the cinematography in this film because the film showed the beauty of New York City - the brownstones, the Manhattan skyline (a brief glimpse), the Brooklyn Bridge, etc.