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Movies / Upcoming / School Daze
School Daze

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School Daze (1987)

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Reviews Counted:19

Fresh:11

Rotten:8

Average Rating:5.7/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min

Genre: Comedies

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: With SCHOOL DAZE, writer-director Spike Lee examines the tensions, biases, and frustrations of middle-class black youth at a southern college campus. Lee combines musical and fantasy sequences with... With SCHOOL DAZE, writer-director Spike Lee examines the tensions, biases, and frustrations of middle-class black youth at a southern college campus. Lee combines musical and fantasy sequences with satirical scenes to tell this pointed story of two cousins who attend the same all-black university. Dap Dunlap (Laurence Fishburne) is the solemn and dedicated activist, while Half-Pint (Lee), his younger cousin, spends most of his time rushing the school's most popular fraternity while desperately trying to find romance. As the film follows the two young men attempting to achieve their disparate goals, it also examines intraracial conflict in a school divided into warring camps: the light-skinned Wannabees and the dark-skinned Jigaboos. Lee, using the college environment as a microcosm in which to further explore black intraracial conflicts--for example, the way different camps wear their hair--doesn't forget that he's an entertainer first and foremost. SCHOOL DAZE, taking its cue from ANIMAL HOUSE, pokes fun at fraternities and sororities, including a hysterical extended sequence on the rigors of hazing. Featuring a pulsating soundtrack and an appearance by go-go legends EU, Lee's return to school is at once revealing and raucous. [More]

Starring: Tisha Campbell, Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Kyme

Starring: Tisha Campbell, Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Kyme, Joe Seneca, Ellen Holly, Art Evans, Ossie Davis, Bill Nunn, Branford Marsalis, Kadeem Hardison

Director: Spike Lee

Director: Spike Lee

[See More Credits]

Reviews for School Daze

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
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No review available.

comment Comment
08/29/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

An uneven but probably necessary stepping stone between "She's Gotta Have It" and "Do The Right Thing"

comment Comment
06/07/04
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Some of the issues get lost in the mix, but strong performances by Lee and Fishburne make this a watchable and thought-provoking venture.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/23/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Although the film has big structural problems and leaves a lot of loose ends, there was never a moment when it didn't absorb me.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
07/27/02
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

Even with all its flaws, School Daze is worth seeing, because Lee gets into areas no director before had even bothered to come near.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

The film's political issues are far more interesting than its artistic attributes--this messy picture feels as if Spike Lee is just incidentally interested in what makes musical movies work

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
11/29/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Uneven and a little dull, although the ending inspires.

comment Comment
03/10/04
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

No review available.

comment Comment
07/21/03
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

ambitious, messy, rowdy comedy-drama, which tosses together fraternity foolishness, campus activism, lusty romance and even a few musical numbers

Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | comment Comment
12/19/02
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
11/04/02
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

For every tough-minded confrontation between the different student factions, School Daze is apt to offer a love scene less than vital to the plot, or an overlong musical scene whose effect is that of treading water.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
08/09/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

The film’s central argument is that black matriculation is undercut by internal divisions.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
02/13/05
Eric Henderson
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine

No review available.

comment Comment
12/28/04
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

Lee has a small, intimate talent; here, he goes for the big podium and blows it.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out

A shapeless mess that falls far short of the high expectations created by Lee's first feature.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/23/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/23/08
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

School Daze, with its pompous patchwork plot, is an arrogant, humorless, sexist mess.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Spike Lee had something in mind while he shot School Daze, his follow-up to the cult hit She's Gotta Have It. Unfortunately it's still lodged behind his cranium.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for School Daze

February 04, 2005: Ossie Davis: 1917-2005
The great Ossie Davis, an outstanding actor and noted civil rights leader, has died at 87. Davis was found dead in his hotel room in Miami Friday, Feb. 4; he was working on the... More...

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