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Does Spike Lee have anyone who can tell him when an idea really sucks? And where was that person when he made She Hate Me? Like Bamboozled and 25th Hour, this one starts out with a viable premise and then succumbs to unbelievably poor judgment. John Henry Armstrong (Anthony Mackie) is a hot-shot African-American executive in a bio-tech corporation who sees his rise to the top end when one of the firm’s scientists plummets to the sidewalk. The suicide uncovers a fraud that compels Armstrong to blow the whistle. As you’d expect, his acting on his conscience brings him only disgrace and possible criminal prosecution. So far, so good. Then movie #2 kicks in, and the mind boggles. Penniless, John Henry accepts an offer from Fatima (Kerry Washington), his former wife, now a whip-cracking lesbian, to impregnate her and her partner (Monica Bellucci) for a price. That goes so well that pretty soon the lesbians are lining up, and John Henry, with the help of Viagra, becomes a steel-driving man, giving them not only the babies they want but the loving they need. Nobody escapes degradation: in one scene, John Henry stands naked before the apprising eyes of his clients. The filmmaking is as ugly as the ideas; maybe Spike Lee hate everybody. (138 minutes)
BY PETER KEOUGH
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