I am a huge Spike Lee fan and like any huge fan I enjoy everything he makes. Watching Spike Lee movies all these years I know what to expect going into a Spike Lee movie. Incredible dialog, incredible acting, messages or even incredible film scores (courtesy of Terence Blanchard). Spike Lee's 1996 effort Girl 6 however is a tough cookie. Upon seeing it for the first time, I was confused. There were a lot of elements in this film that I hadn't seen in any of Spike's films before. The cameos and the attempt to make this a straight forward comedy was some of the things I had never seen Spike do. But I had confidence in him and knew that he'd make this film watchable. Over the years I had been on the fence about this film and couldn't really figured out what I liked about this film. Was it the fact that it was a Spike Lee joint? Was it the incredible Prince soundtrack? So I decided to sit down and analyze the DVD of the film. We meet an actress (Theresa Randle) in the middle of an audition being conducted by Quentin Tarantino. We witness her walking out on the part because of demands and we also see her being dropped by her agent and kicked out of her acting class. Down on her luck, she looks in the classifieds and find phone sex companies looking for new ladies. She takes the job and we see Girl 6 blossom before our eyes. She has her highs and lows in the business but remains an aspiring actress at heart. Complete with fantasy scenes, Prince music, cameos and Spikes trademark shots Girl 6 was an OK comedy at best. Scenes made me cringe (see the Jeffersons/Good Times fantasy sequence), some made me laugh and the ending left me disappointed. I had now come to see what everyone disliked about the movie. But it wasn't as bad as everyone made it seem. Sure its a Spike Lee joint but don't expect it to be on the level of Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X or Bamboozled. Spike lapsed on this one but it still has its moments. 8 years after Girl 6, Spike would suffer the same fate in 2004's She Hate Me. Maybe comedy isn't his thing but Girl 6 (also see his child friendly 1994 film Crooklyn) separated him from the angry and controversial persona that the press made him out to be. Girl 6 is a mixed bag but it is watchable. I honestly can't say that I wouldn't sit down and watch the whole thing again.
Girl 6 - **1/2 out of ****
Girl 6 - **1/2 out of ****