Spike Lee‘s Red Hook Summer premiered at Sundance and to my recollection was met with middling reviews before being picked up by Variance Films. The pic will now see a limited release on August 10 and the first trailer has arrived in preparation for its roll-out.
Lee describes the film as a new entry in his “Chronicles of Brooklyn”, which also includes She’s Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, Crookyln, Clockers and He Got Game and centers on Flik Royale (Jules Brown), a sullen young boy from middle-class Atlanta who has come to spend the summer with his deeply religious grandfather, Bishop Enoch Rouse (Clarke Peters), in the housing projects of Red Hook.
Having never met before, things quickly get off on the wrong foot as Bishop Enoch relentlessly attempts to convert Flik into a follower of Jesus Christ. Between his grandfather’s constant preaching and the culture shock of inner-city life, Flik’s summer appears to be a total disaster–until he meets Chazz Morningstar (Toni Lysaith), a pretty girl his age, who shows Flik the brighter side of Brooklyn. Through her love and the love of his grandfather, Flik begins to realize that the world is a lot bigger, and perhaps a lot better, than he’d ever imagined.
Check out the trailer directly below.
