A good movie

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I have it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, even though I really loved this flick the first time around, to be honest, I wasn't really impressed with this rewatch though. I mean, I still think it is a decent watch but I don't think it it is actually one of Spike Lee's best movies. At least, Denzel Washington gave here one of his very few really dark performances and he was just awesome. Not only the guy is immensely charismatic but he definitely has some talent and, as displayed here, he actually has some range as well and it is a real shame he doesn't take more risks and always ends up playing basically some variation of the same character over and over again. I was also impressed by Ray Allen who was, at the time, a major NBA player and it was nice to see that, not only he could play some ball but he could also stand on his own against one of the finest thespians. However, if I thought at first that the story was really strong, I wasn't really impressed this time around. First of all, to be honest, the concept of a convict being allowed one week of freedom so he could convince his son to join a specific college was rather far-fetched. However, the biggest issue was there was a bunch of half-baked sub-plots that didn't really work, especially the one involving Milla Jovovich playing a prostitue. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Spike Lee's work.

7/10