Mo' Better Blues
Universal Pictures | Release Date: August 3, 1990 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
9
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Los Angeles TimesSheila Benson
Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues about a talented jazz trumpet player willing to sacrifice every relationship to his music, is by turns seductive, engaging and, finally, maddening. Read full review
60
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Personal rather than social issues come to the fore in Mo' Better Blues, a Spike Lee personality piece dressed in jazz trappings that puffs itself up like Bird but doesn't really fly. More focused on the sexual dilemmas of its main character than on musical themes, pic might well be subtitled He's Gotta Have It. Read full review
60
Tampa Bay TimesHal Lipper
Mo' Better Blues is not only about artistry unfulfilled. It is artistry unfulfilled. It is perfection without a meaningful plot. It lopes along, pleasantly, never reaching fruition. [03 Aug 1990, p.18]
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Though it's full of striking visual ideas and actorly turns, it never fully convinces. Read full review
50
Washington PostHal Hinson
A jazz piece may be improvised, sketched out in the process of creation, but a movie resists that kind of spontaneity -- or requires skills that are beyond Lee's talents at the moment. Read full review
50
The New York TimesCaryn James
From characters to camera angles, this story of a self-absorbed jazz trumpeter is one long cliche, the kind that might make his most loyal admirers wince and wonder, Spike, what happened? Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A film that could have been the first cleareyed view of the jazz world from a black perspective ends as a romanticized fable. For the only time in his remarkable career, Spike Lee has failed to tell it like it is. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Mo' Better Blues has problems. Lee hates being compared with Woody Allen, but it looks as if he's going to do what Allen did in trying a new kind of film until it works. [03 Aug 1990, p.29p]
40
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
A messy, meandering script ensures that, despite stylish camerawork and sturdy acting, this lengthy indulgence succeeds neither as jazz movie nor as cautionary tale. Read full review
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