Spike Lee has made some entertaining films, but when he gets political, things get heavy-handed real fast. The women of Chi-Raq (named because there are more gun deaths in Chicago than Afghanistan and Iraq combined) decide to withhold sex in an attempt to force their men to stop the violence. Their slogan, “No Peace, No Pussy.” The plot is obviously based on the ancient Greek play “Lysistrata,” but I had no idea how literally Lee would take it: a chorus (Samuel L. Jackson), rhyming couplets, stylized confrontations. Even so, it might have worked if the message points weren’t hammered home so bluntly and repeatedly…for 30 minutes longer than necessary. (Criterion Cinema only)
(2 / 5)