Not war

Chi-Raq

Crit

A messy masterpiece from Spike Lee, with support from Aristophanes, as ambitious a joint as anything since Malcolm X and as powerful as any since 4 Little Girls. Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris) persuades women of the South Side to unite against (sexual) union until the Spartan and Trojan [sic] gangs put away their guns. Sometimes too preachy, sometimes sidetracked in subplot, but at its best--the opening song, "Pray 4 My City" by Nick Cannon, who plays one of two title characters (the one not on the Illinois map); the long, impassioned sermon by Father Mike (John Cusack); every moment Dolmedes (Samuel L. Jackson) is on the screen--stunning, inspiring, thrilling.