Crooklyn

PG-13

1994

1h 52m

Drama

List

79%

Tomatometer

34 Reviews

90%

Audience Score

10,000+ Ratings

As her teacher mother, Carolyn (Alfre Woodard), and her jazz musician father, Woody (Delroy Lindo), worry over monthly bills, grade-schooler student Troy Carmichael (Zelda Harris) banters and bonds with her four brothers. Against her will, Troy is sent to her aunt's southern home for a summer visit, but when she returns to her bustling Brooklyn neighborhood, she learns that a family member is gravely ill. Already mature, Troy is forced to face to some very grown-up facts about life and loss.

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Critics Consensus

A personal project that warmly reflects on director Spike Lee's childhood, Crooklyn is an episodic celebration of family and the indelible facets of one's hometown.

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Anderson Jones

Detroit Free Press

Because Lee's previous films have been so fervently about something that they smothered much of the very humanity Crooklyn celebrates, the relaxed gait is strikingly apparent.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 26, 2022

Full Review

Alyx Vesey

Bitch Media

Apart from being the two female presences in the house, Carolyn sees singular fortitude and possibility in Troy. Their scenes together are the heart of the movie.

Jan 5, 2021

Full Review

David Ansen

Newsweek

Lee seems to confuse noise with drama: the bickering Carmichaels create quite a racket, but we're seldom moved by their plight. In his most desperate moment, Lee shoots a long sequence through a distorted lens.

Jun 5, 2018

Full Review

Alex Papaioannou

InSession Film

Unfathomable. Yet, as Crooklyn demonstrates, what may be out of reach for most is quite literally what Lee was born to do.

Oct 31, 2023

Full Review

Saffron Maeve

Screen Slate

An elegiac Bed-Stuy fairy tale.

Mar 5, 2023

Full Review

Lynnette Nicholas

Common Sense Media

Nuanced depiction of a black family in Brooklyn; language.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 16, 2019

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Dave S

In what is probably writer/director Spike Lee’s most personal effort, Crooklyn tells the story of the Carmichael family in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn in the summer of 1973. Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo play the beleaguered parents, struggling financially to stay afloat, gingerly negotiating their own loving but fragile relationship, and fighting to keep their five children from the dangers of the neighborhood. While it’s not without its shortcomings (the constant arguments get tiring at times, the distorted lens used when they leave home is annoying, and the soundtrack, which has some solid tunes, doesn’t always match the mood of the scene), Crooklyn is saved by some great dialogue, compelling characters, and great performances by Lindo, Woodard, and Zelda Harris as the young daughter.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/06/24

Full Review

Tracie S

Classic!!! Definitely underrated

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/08/24

Full Review

tiffany g

spike lee's best movie after malcolm x.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/22/23

Full Review

Mathilde D

The movie was selected in "Film Aesthetics", one of my three required courses for a master's degree in cinema studies at New York University. While the first half filmed in Brooklyn, New York didn't turn me on, the second half filmed a few states south in their relative Aunt Song's house really opened my eyes. The two settings are so different it makes audience wonder the coming-of-age going on in little Troy's mind. Aunt Song, played by veteran actor-director Francis Foster, carried the film and earned its place in film history.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/29/23

Full Review

Steve D

Spike's normal heartfelt powerful work. I would rather it focus on the adults but it is moving.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A solid coming of age tale following the formative years of a young girl growing up with her working class parents and four brothers in Brooklyn. Excellent score and feels more intimate compared with Spike Lee's other work. This film was probably even better than I am giving it credit for but I was having some trouble staying engaged that had more to do with me than the film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

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Spike Lee

Director

Alfre Woodard

Carolyn Carmichael

Delroy Lindo

Woody Carmichael

David Patrick Kelly

Tony Eyes

Zelda Harris

Troy

Carlton Williams

Clinton

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Crooklyn: Official Clip - Family Fight