A crack peddler (Mekhi Phifer) operating out of a Brooklyn Housing Project no longer has the stomach for the life but is torn due to loyalty towards the menacing drug lord/father father (Delroy Lindo) who oversees his operation. When he becomes a suspect in a murder investigation that also targets his straight laced brother (Isaiah Washington), he doesn't know whether to trust the homicide detective (Harvey Keitel) who seems to show a genuine concern for his well being. From a novel and screenplay by Richard Price, Spike Lee's Clockers is an intelligent, rollicking, thought provoking film which unravels just slightly towards the end but is still a full blooded original (which makes you question its absence from recent movie conversations). Phifer throws himself into the lead role, which makes it excusable when he occasionally struggles to hit the right notes, Keitel turns in one of his finest performances and Lindo is potent and absolutely petrifying in a great turn.
