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Poster for Red Hook Summer

Red Hook Summer

This August Spike Takes You Back To Brooklyn

2012 · 2h 5m · R Drama
Directed by Spike Lee

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Overview

When his mom deposits him at the Red Hook housing project in Brooklyn to spend the summer with the grandfather he’s never met, young Flik may as well have landed on Mars. Fresh from his cushy life in Atlanta, he’s bored and friendless, and his strict grandfather, Enoch, a firebrand preacher, is bent on getting him to accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Only Chazz, the feisty girl from church, provides a diversion from the drudgery. As hot summer simmers and Sunday mornings brim with Enoch’s operatic sermons, things turn anything but dull as people’s conflicting agendas collide.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
58%
Tomatometer
Fresh

For the most part it's all rather pleasant, if somewhat aimless.

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
Rotten

Lee's typically paradoxical statements on race and religion muddle the narrative, and his old stylistic tricks -- saturated color schemes, characters addressing the camera -- aren't exactly inspired.

Drew Hunt, Chicago Reader
Rotten

The story is static for about 90 minutes, then rises to action, but in a way that seems impromptu, either made up on the spot or ill-considered.

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Rotten

When Spike Lee fails he fails big, and he goes down in flames with "Red Hook Summer."

Adam Graham, Detroit News
Rotten

Lee's latest film feels like several intriguing ideas in search of an over-arching story.

Claudia Puig, USA Today

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