Spike Lee adapts Aristophanes's ancient Greek play Lysistrata in this passionate, provocative, and unconventional film that transposes the story to Chicago's South Side, which earned the name Chi-Raq for its high murder rate. Teyonah Parris takes the role of Lysistrata, a tough, sexually unapologetic woman who—after seeing a child killed in a drive-by shooting—organizes the women of gang members on both sides of the war to stage a sex strike until they end the killing. Nick Cannon costars as rapper and gang leader Chi-Raq, who glorifies the violence in his music. Lee returns to the stylistic experimentation and cinematic confrontation of his earlier films, with jarring shifts in tone and temperament as he stridently proclaims the film's message throughout—at times like a revival meeting seeking a callback, at others presenting a history lesson in verse. The anti-violence message here is serious even if the vehicle is colorful and satirical, playing out as a musical production in one scene and a literal battle of the sexes in another. The fine cast includes Angela Bassett as an elder offering advice to Lysistrata, Wesley Snipes as a one-eyed rival gang leader named Cyclops, Jennifer Hudson as a mother mourning a dead child, John Cusack as an activist priest calling out "politicians in the pocket of the NRA," and Samuel L. Jackson as the chorus and commentator. Provocative, sexy, and challenging, this is recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Chi-Raq
Lionsgate</span></span><span style='mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt'>, 127 min., R, DVD: $19.98, Blu-ray: $24.99, Jan. 26 Volume 31, Issue 2
Chi-Raq
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