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Movies / On DVD / Jungle Fever
Jungle Fever

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Jungle Fever (1991)

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83 %
Tomatometer

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Reviews Counted: 30

Fresh: 25

Rotten:5

Average Rating: 7/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 15 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Spike Lee's drama is a complex, multilayered, and volatile look at interracial romance in present-day New York City. Flipper Purify (Wesley Snipes), an up-and-coming African American architect,... Spike Lee's drama is a complex, multilayered, and volatile look at interracial romance in present-day New York City. Flipper Purify (Wesley Snipes), an up-and-coming African American architect, seems to have it all: a successful career, a nice apartment on a renovated street in Harlem, a beautiful, intelligent wife whom he adores, and a bright, loving daughter. The last thing he expects is to find himself in an affair with a blue-collar Italian American from Bensonhurst. But soon after Angie Tucci (Annabella Sciorra) comes to work in his office, the two end up staying late together and having intimate talks over takeout Chinese food. Inevitably a romance begins, leaving Flipper and Angie caught up in the fury and suspicion of the racial prejudice of their families and friends. As their lives unravel, so does their affair, and they wonder if their relationship ever had a chance from the beginning. As usual with Lee, he isn't content to tackle simply one issue in his films--in JUNGLE FEVER, he addresses, for perhaps the first time, the drug epidemic in the African American community. In this subplot, Samuel L. Jackson plays Gator, Flipper's crackhead brother, with an intensity that is almost too painful to watch. [More]

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Spike Lee, Ossie Davis

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Spike Lee, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, John Turturro, Frank Vincent, Anthony Quinn, Tim Robbins

Director: Spike Lee

Director: Spike Lee

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Dec 15, 1998

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Jungle Fever

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Includes a number of memorable set pieces, most notably a visit to a crack den which, accompanied by the epic sound of Stevie Wonder's "Living In The City," is simply unforgettable.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/22/08
Barry McIlheney
Empire Magazine

It's uneven, but its best moments -- such as Samuel L Jackson's performance -- are amongst Lee's finest achievements on film.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/22/08
Channel 4 Film

Though Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra perform well, the script provides no deeper motivations or meanings for their relationship. Situations around them prove more interesting and dynamic.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/22/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Lee tackles the subject of interracial romance from the unavoidable vantage point that, while things today are more open, they are also considerably more volatile and complex.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/22/08
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There are so many voices you may think you're swimming through a maelstrom, but thanks to Lee it's all superbly orchestrated.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
09/22/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Lee is in fine form.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
04/07/08
David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Instead of showing how prejudice seeps into the private intimacies of daily life, the film turns its attention to the other characters.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

No review available.

comment Comment
06/26/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
11/12/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
08/04/04
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

No review available.

comment Comment
11/28/03
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

No review available.

comment Comment
11/18/03
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
08/07/03
Ryan Cracknell
Movie Views

Spike Lee's blunt and flippant look at forbidden interracial romance set against an urban backdrop of ethnic cynicism. Nobody knows how to examine the hostility of race relations in the movies so effectively such as the brash Lee. Jungle Fever is confront

comment Comment
05/31/03
Frank Ochieng
TheWorldJournal.com

No review available.

comment Comment
02/07/03
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

No review available.

comment Comment
01/09/03
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

Lee is one of the most important American filmmakers of the past two decades, and the challenges, sincerity, humanity and fierceness of his work are all on display in Jungle Fever.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
11/07/02
James Rocchi
Netflix

No review available.

comment Comment
10/23/02
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

A smart, very assured film about interracial relations but also about racial misconceptions in general.

Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal | comment Comment
09/10/02
Kevin N. Laforest
Montreal Film Journal
 
 
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