Movie review - "School Daze" (1988) ** 1/2

Spike Lee's second film didn't see him back down from any risks - a musical drama at a black college might seem like a relatively commercial option but Lee refuses to pander to the audience. It's a weird sort of movie - there is meaty drama stuff there, the fight against apathy on campuses, racial differences between blacks - but this goes in fits and starts rather than a solid story. There are musical interludes, which seem inserted erratically. The first one is an MGM homage of girls dancing in a beauty salon which lacks something (the right sort of sound design or something) and the easy going jazz throughout the movie seems to help cause a lack of energy. But the more contemporary numbers have a lot more energy, especially in the second half - there are some interesting dance ones from the guys, and a climactic one where everyone dances in swimsuits and Lee films lots of shots of wiggling arses. The plot involves Laurence Fishburne (a little old to play a college student) trying to get the college to divest its interests from South Africa. There's a kind of yucky plot twist where Fishburne's nemesis gets his girlfriend to sleep with a guy. Interesting ending where Fishburne yells at everyone to "wake up. Many of the cast later went on to A Diff'rent World.