Girl 6 (96)

5/8/97

A part of the work force we don't often hear about. Randle is a frustrated actress who takes a job as a phone sex operator 'just to pay the bills temporarily'. She finds herself addicted to the job. She is good at her job and many customers ask for her by name. Her actual relationships are suffering as she goes deeper and deeper into her telephone ones.
Let's get something out of the way. Theresa Randle is hot. And the way she is lovingly photographed by Lee makes her almost angelic. She has enough charisma to make it as an actress [obviously Randle did], so the fact that she has to settle for being girl 6 is a bit hard to believe. But putting that aside, Spike, as usual, has flashes of brilliance among the hundreds of things he tries in the course of a film. There are scenes where Randle reenacts famous black heroines. She's Foxy Brown, she's on the Jeffersons. And, like every Lee film since DO THE RIGHT THING, the actors stand on some kind of moving platform while being filmed. I found it interesting to see the 'behind the scenes' action at a phone sex firm. We don't find out enough about Randle to keep us interested. Cameos abound. Madonna, Tarantino, Silver, Belzer [Munch on TBDSOT]. Lee for once doesn't overshadow his actors with his small part. He wisely stays off camera for most of the film.
Theresa Randle Isaiah Washington Spike Lee Jenifer Lewis Debi Mazar Peter Berg Michael Imperioli Dina Pearlman Maggie Rush Desi Moreno Naomi Campbell [the former future Mrs. Adam Clayton] Richard Belzer Madonna John Turturro Quentin Tarantino Ron Silver Joie Lee Halle Berry Cinematography by Malik Hassan Sayeed Written by Suzan-Lori Parks Directed by Spike Lee
Ebert ** Maltin ** Guthmann 2.0 Gleiberman B-
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