thing get dull early an often in this in this mawkish jazz bio fiction write and direct by spike lee . bleek gilliam ( denzell washington ) be a happenin jazz trumpeter that front a quintet pack them in at below the underdog . his problem include an incompetent manager and a stage hog sax player and two girlfriend that he play musical mattress with . the real love of his life though be his trumpet and his music . the band manager and giant and have a dangerous gambling problem and prove to be an ineffective negotiator with greedy club owner and would be best jettison but bleek remains loyal for as long a possible . it will prove to his undoing a an artist but ironically contribute to his growth a a man . a bleek and denzell washington be all wrong a the ambitious trumpeter with a babe on each arm . he too sweet a guy to be so self center about his art and dispense patience and love to those close to him with a low key remoteness . he simply lack the fire . wesley snipe who play henderson the sax player would have be far more suited for the role but even he would have to mouth the flaccid throw away scribblings of lee torpid dialogue . a giant and lee hit the trifecta with an abysmal performance to match his writing and direction . loosely attempt to mirror the grubby but sympathetic ratso rizzo to bleek joe buck he adopt a limp and even the i be walkin here moment from midnight cowboy . in this case you wish the taxi would run him over and be do with it . lee script be all tepid argument and heavy hand ribbing and veil insult with some requisite clumsy editorialize that lee have to inject to remain down . the scene between the band member backstage and in rehearsal lack spark and be only surpass in dreariness by the bleek and giant conversation that have an ad lib look and go in circle . complete this travesty be lee pretentious visual style . track shot and zoom and pan be waste and without significance to scene . they just wander . blue be lee love letter to jazz ( make implicit by the mountain of memorabilia plaster all over the set ) and it all sentimental clap trap that lack passion and verve . jazz on film be well serve by tavernier round midnight and eastwood bird which get below the surface and reveal more side of the form and the pain behind it in addition to offer infinitely superior lead performance by forrest whitaker and the real deal dexter gordon . this spike lee joint doesn not even offer a mild buzz . it some pretty bad homegrown .