Get on the Bus (1996)

Simply Perfect

Excellent but underrated film

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

I'm not a black man in America, but I've loved all of Spike's films and quite frankly, I wish people (not, by and large, the commenters on this film, refreshingly) would attempt to make films "black" or "white" or "Latino" or any other social or political or religious demeaner. This is a wonderful film and all people should be able to appreciate it. I would like to respond to those who think this is a "white-berating" movie or something. One word: please. The vast majority of the dialogue in this film is African-American focused and there is very little criticism of The White Man. Those of you who claim otherwise, well, to quote Shakespeare, "I think thou doth protest too much." Lee has given the black man, as they like to say in liberal arts grad school programs, agency. He has presented the wide range of black circumstances. These are not victims of drive-by shootings, gang-bangers, or basketball players. I did find the characters a bit stock in their very attempts to convey such distinctly different elements of the black experience. It was as though Spike ticked off boxes saying, OK, we have a conservative black man, we have a struggling middle-class black man, we have an egomaniacal black man..but having said that, it is only possible for that to be a criticism because as viewers, we are so unused to seeing black men depicted in complex ways. As a white guy who's worked in largely minority schools for a decade and was The White Guy who'd attend all the functions of the minority student association events in college-that is to say, I enjoyed learning about all manner of racial diversity, I don't think, that as a white person, it's appropriate to judge the fitness of folks of another ethnicity to use words which might seem a little coarse. If people want to use those words, when they do not refer to me, what is it to me? If white folks hadn't been using those words back in the day, the use of those words would not even be an issue now. Anyway, I'm rambling, but it seems that this film was made, essentially, as one of those rare vehicles which allows people (not that many people saw this film, of course.....) to see black men as humans. We see an egomaniacal, sexually-insecure man named Smooth (the fantastic Andre Braugher). We see a light-skinned African American (the very talented Roger Guenver Smith) who must answer barbed criticisms from Smooth about his claim to a legitimate place in the African-American community, Charles Dutton, criminally underemployed in modern movies as the organizer of the bus journey to the Million Man March and the glue who holds (as best he can) the trip together. We see two gay men (Isaiah Washington (ya really think the man is homophobic?)) and Henry Lennix as Randall (also excellent) whose relationship is challenged by Randall's insecurity about it. Ossie Davis is brilliant as an older man who largely keeps his counsel but when needed to keep the train from coming off the tracks, seems to know just how to calm the storm. A hard-working middle-class man named Evan (the reliable Thomas Byrd Jr., a regular in Lee's movies) is struggling with how best to raise his son. His heart is in the right place but the job is not easy. His son, Jamal (Gabriel Casseus giving a nuanced performance communicating all range of depth and yet at the same time, the simplicity which only a young person can convey). The black man who turns out to be self-hating, and who joins the bus (for a short time, in Memphis), Wendell, is amusingly and with a great deal of satisfaction, I would imagine, to all positive and forward-thinking blacks (and folks of other colors) dealt with quite appropriately. His behavior is quite disgraceful and as I watched him I hoped that he would get the harsh comeuppance which he did indeed receive.The cinematography of the bus travelling through the American west is bleached out in order to convey the starkness of the landscape and in order that the focus remains on these rich, wonderfully human characters. Lee does a fantastic job directing. I'm not willing to say this is his best film when the man has directed "Do The Right Thing", and "When the Levees Break" which is all you need to know about Hurricane Katrina. But saying this film is worse than those two is not saying anything bad about this film. It is excellent and it is a tribute to black men which more people should see so that in America more people understand that black men are as diverse as there are grains of sand on the ocean.

Spike Lee, in my mind a hit and miss director, hit a bullseye with GET ON THE BUS. This engrossing 1996 comedy-drama follows a group of black men who take a bus trip from a Los Angeles suburb, en route to the Million Man March in Washington DC. I love movies that focus on fictional characters involved in a real life event and Lee has put together a most interesting collection of characters and thrown them together for this personal journey to a history-making event. Some of the finest African American talent has been assembled to make this story work. Andre Braugher shines as Flip, a self-absorbed actor, waiting to hear about the results of an audition, who you have to really wonder why he is even interested in attending the march. Isaiah Washington plays a closeted homosexual whose soon to be ex-lover (Harry Lennix) pretty much outs him in front of everyone on the bus. A father (Thomas Jefferson Byrd) is accompanied by his son (De'Aundre Bonds) who, because of a court order, has to be in shackles for the entire trip. Hill Harper plays a film student who has decided to film the march for a school project. Roger Guevenor Smith plays a light-skinned black cop who confronts a Muslim passenger (Gabriel Casseus) who has a record and still has a warrant on his head. Richard Belzer plays the paranoid Caucasian driver of the bus whose discomfort with the assignment forces him to quit a couple of hours into the trip forcing the trip leader (the always solid Charles S. Dutton) to take over driving the bus and Ossie Davis adds a touch of dignity as Pop, the only passenger on the bus who was probably at the first march on Washington in the 60's. This is a delicious ensemble peace, lovingly directed and skillfully acted with a music score that is a Motown lover's dream. A minor classic that, if given the opportunity, will move you.

I always intended to watch this movie for a long time but I kept putting it off. I was really surprised at how excellent and well-written this movie actually was. If you enjoy films where a group of diverse people are put into a situation and then left to deal with each other (eg "Twelve Angry Men"), then you must see this movie. This film was also very intelligent. I think too many people believe that if you get a group of black men together for anything, they'll soon be calling each other "nigga" and violence will erupt, not necessarily in that order. About halfway through the movie, I told my wife that the n-word had not been used at all, and no punches had been thrown.But I was wrong.What made it even more interesting was the way the men responded to the person who called everyone "nigga," and there was a fight, which occurred between a homosexual and an arrogant, big-mouthed guy who kept calling him "faggot." I don't condone violence, but the gay guy knocked him down a peg or two, and he certainly had it coming. This film also solidifies Andre Braugher as an incredible actor. He has taken on such diverse roles and here, he was outstanding. So many of these actors were. Almost every scenario and discussion is covered in two hours well spent.

We join the bus ride with a group of Black Americans as they journey to the Million Man March. During this journey, the camera enters the soul and beliefs of each character that represents a whole spectrum of the Black community. Their conversations range from the politics to the religions and beyond their inner-self . Each one finding new meaning to their life and destiny. Reggie's preachy but fascinating script is handled masterfully by the genius Spike Lee.