Zebrahead

Which is what I like most about this movie. It doesn't end with everyone singing. Or dancing, or marching towards the camera, or anything like that. The goomba and the Spike Lee guy duke it out while the Asian girl despairs, and the white guy and black girl embrace each other hopelessly. That is life. Some differences will never be resolved, and the best you can hope for is that *some* people will reach each other. I was praying all along that this would not have some pat ending that could never have happened at my school, and I was rewarded. There are no resolutions, just moments.

The film takes place in Detroit, Michigan, a predominantly black city. Zack (Michael Rappaport) is a white, middle class, jewish, urban teenager whose mother died when he was young. He lives with his father, Richard (Ray Starkey), an erstwhile swinger and owner of an inner city music store. Zack attends the predominantly black, local public high school, and his best friend, Dee (DeShonn Castle), is also black and middle class. Zack is very taken with black culture.

When Dee's cousin, Nikki (N'Bushe Wright), who is black and from East New York, Brooklyn, moves into town, Zack, who has just been dumped by his white girlfriend, finds himself smitten by her. They gradually begin a romance that attracts a lot of unwanted attention. When the high school hot head and bad boy, Nut (Ron Johnson), a black gang banger wanna be, develops the hots for Nikki, it is the beginning of the end with the inevitable violent result.

This is a surprisingly good film with superlative performances by Michael Rappaport, DeShonn Castle, Ron Johnson, N'Bushe Wright, and the late Ray Starkey. The tension throughout the movie is kept taut and believable. Though somewhat predictable, the film manages to keep the viewer engaged throughout. This is a well made film that deserves a viewing.