Product Description

Self-professed sports fanatic Spike Lee steps back into the documentary arena (4 LITTLE GIRLS) with this reverent tribute to one of Black Americas most notorious cultural icons. At New Yorks exclusive Manhasset High School, Jim Brown shattered school records as a triple-threat athlete, where he excelled in lacrosse, basketball, and football. After a successful four-year reign at Syracuse University, Brown embarked on one of professional footballs most celebrated careers. A devastatingly imposing physical specimen, Browns strength, quickness, and mental toughness enabled him to intimidate opponents before he even stepped onto the field. Stepping off the gridiron nine years later, Brown used his overflowing masculinity and sexuality to establish his name in Hollywood, starring in films such as THE DIRTY DOZEN and THREE THE HARD WAY. Throughout all of this, Brown remained a staunch activist in the black community, dedicating himself to foundations such as the Negro Economic Union and

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42961 in DVD
• Brand: VAS
• Released on: 2004-08-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 140 minutes

Amazon.com
Spike Lee directs a flawed but fascinating portrait of the sports legend, actor, and activist in Jim Brown: All American. Interviewing former coaches, teammates, and celebrity observers (including Oliver Stone), and with Brown's cooperation, this HBO documentary is best at detailing Brown's early life. Briefly raised by a great-grandmother in Georgia, Brown moved to Long Island, where he found a supportive, predominantly white, community that encouraged his high school victories in basketball, lacrosse, tennis, and, of course, football. He encounters racism at Syracuse University, but Brown's performance and pride overwhelmed all resistance. The Cleveland Browns chapter explains how Brown dominated the game, and then Lee ventures into his subject's experiences in Hollywood and as an African American community leader. The film is engaging and disciplined until controversial issues arise--Brown's alleged abuse toward women, for example--and Lee refuses to press. But in general, this is a good piece about a charismatic, dynamic figure. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker
Spike Lee attempts to fashion the football legend Jim Brown into some sort of hero. He made this documentary for H.B.O., and the first half is a conventional rah-rah sports profile. Things pick up when Brown abruptly retires from professional football at age twenty-nine and embarks on his extended athletic afterlife. He's taken up by Hollywood and quickly becomes the black supermale, the anti-Poitier, steaming up the screen with Raquel Welch. When his acting career winds down, he finds the spotlight with self-created controversies, such as inviting gang members to a peace summit at his mansion or downplaying publicized problems with "the females." Sometimes Brown's ramblings and pronouncements are entertaining, in the limited way that conversations with opinionated monomaniacs can be, but much of the material (like the footage of his wife giving birth) seems bizarre and beside the point. Lee never really catches Brown's charisma; he just assumes the audience shares his awe. -Michael Agger
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Jim Brown All American
I have seen only one Spike Lee movie so what I'm about to say is said (by my own admission) with ignorance, but Jim Brown All American must be his masterpiece... his tour de force. This hour long documentary deeply explores not only the incredible athletic career of this exceptional athlete but also the obstacles-- notably prejudice-- over which Jim Brown had to prevail on his way to greatness. It also reveals what makes Jim Brown an exceptional (and admirable) human being off the playing field as well. His capacity for love and forgiveness, portrayed in the opening scene of the documentary, impressed me at least as much as did his absolutely unbelievable performances on the football AND lacrosse fields.

At the same time, I was very impressed with Mr. Lee's evenhanded and thoughtful treatment of Jim Brown's legal troubles. He didn't whitewash or paper over this turbulent aspect of Jim Brown's life. He also documented the critical intervention of many good people in his formative years without whom Jim Brown's life might have taken a different course.

I know what you're thinking..."This guy's just another rabid Cleveland Browns fan in his 50's who grew up rooting for Jim Brown." Not so. I'm a rabid Chicago Bears fan in his 50's who sees Jim Brown and Gale Sayers starting in the same backfield on God's All-Universe Team.

The documentary was informative, entertaining, and-- above all-- inspiring. I can't wait until it is issued so I can buy it for myself and show it to all the aging Cleveland Browns fans who surround me in my cul-de-sac.

I wish I could give it more than five stars.

Complex Subject; Complex Life
This documentary is probably more balanced thatn ESPN's and FOX's versions combined. Subjects like Jim Brown are difficult to be encapsuled in such a short time, but Spike probably did as good a job as any filmmaker could.

I also agree agout the balance concerning his legal issues. Allowing multiple parties to express their perspectives gives the viewer the responsibility to make up his/her own mind.

The most impressive thing was Jim expressing lament and remorse for not being the father he wanted to be for his children (prior to his present marriage to Monique and their two children). He took responsibility for their development and stated that by dealing with his personal survival and conflict with their respective mothers, the children suffer.

Overall, I highly recommend this documetary to anyone who says that athletes are one-dimensional and superficial.

Stick to Documentaries, Spike Lee!
Spike Lee's "Four Little Girls" and "When the Levees Broke" rank as two of the best documentaries in the history of the genre.

His offering on Jim Brown, obviously a less-weighty subject, is nevertheless an admirable effort on his part.

What disappoints me is how *cynical* Spike Lee's movies are. However, his documentaries are something else again, precisely just the opposite --intelligent, inspiring, politically-committed. They represent, to my way of thinking, his best efforts as an artist.

One can hear in his voice-over comments not only his deep-felt desire to tell Jim Brown's story "like it is" (the good as well as the bad), but also the clarion call of his social and political consciousness.

American filmakers take note -- films are not just an industry, they can and should be a force for social good. And Spike Lee has shown that he can lead the way.

Nothing achieves the level of "art" without an acknowledgement by the artist of the social, political and economic forces that fundamentally influence our lives.

So you're in the game, Spike Lee. Don't let us down!