School Daze

Name: School Daze
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Musical
Released: February 12, 1988
Duration: 121 min
Rating: 52
Cast: Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne

1988

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Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews

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School Daze

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Movie Details & Credits

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: February 12, 1988 | R

Starring: Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne

Summary: A not so popular young man wants to pledge to a popular fraternity at his historically black college.

Director: Spike Lee

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, Musical

Rating: R

Runtime: 121 min

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Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert

Although the film has big structural problems and leaves a lot of loose ends, there was never a moment when it didn’t absorb me, because I felt as if I was watching the characters talk to one another, instead of to me. Read full review

Josh Larsen

The fact that Columbia Pictures produced this is hugely significant. It’s not only that School Daze is written and directed by an African-American filmmaker; it’s that it offers a black perspective outside of genre (blaxploitation) or historical fiction. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

And though School Daze isn't as successful as the more modestly scaled "She's Gotta Have It," in the end, it may be even more rewarding and promising. The movie's seemingly twisted view of higher education suggests a straight eye, a cool mind, a steady heart--and a great aim. Read full review

Desson Thomson

Spike Lee had something in mind while he shot School Daze, his follow-up to the cult hit "She's Gotta Have It." Unfortunately it's still lodged behind his cranium. And the movie's out. Read full review

Derek Adams

Swiftian satires on popular taste can backfire badly, and Spike Lee's attempt at black consciousness-raising through the armature of Animal House movies almost dies of the contusion it is trying to lance. Read full review

Rita Kempley

A didactic collegiate farce -- "Animal House" with pan-African politics, and an enormously embarrassing encore. Tell an inexperienced director he's a genius, and you create Dr. Frankenstein. School Daze, with its pompous patchwork plot, is an arrogant, humorless, sexist mess. Read full review

Christine Arnold

As much as She's Gotta Have It exceeded expectations, School Daze sinks beneath them. This is one low- down flop of a movie. [12 Feb 1988, p.C5]

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