She Hate Me
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| She Hate Me | |
|---|---|
 She Hate Me movie poster. |
|
| Directed by | Spike Lee |
| Produced by | Jean Cazes, Jamel Debbouze, Spike Lee |
| Written by | Michael Genet |
| Starring | Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Ellen Barkin, Monica Bellucci, Jim Brown, Brian Dennehy, Woody Harrelson, Jamel Debbouze, Bai Ling, Q-Tip, Dania Ramirez, Lonette McKee, Paula Jai Parker, John Turturro, Ossie Davis, Reynaldo Rosales |
| Music by | Terence Blanchard |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 30, 2004 |
| Running time | 138 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
She Hate Me (2004) is a LGBT feature film directed by Spike Lee and starring Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, and Ellen Barkin.
The film, as with many of Lee's, touches on comedy, drama, and politics. Unlike many of his previous films, Spike Lee does not have an acting credit in this film.
The film was shot entirely on location in New York City, including each of the city's five boroughs in one way or another. It was nominated for various awards (see below), but did not claim a win in any of the categories in which it was nominated. She Hate Me was released in July of 2004 and went on to gross almost half a million dollars at the box office in limited release.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The film's story is about John Henry 'Jack' Armstrong, a financially successful and upwardly mobile whistleblower who loses his job at a biotechnology firm and is falsely accused of securities fraud by his duplicitous employers, primarily represented by the arrogant Leland Powell (played by Woody Harrelson). His assets are frozen, and he finds himself unable to maintain his quality of life.
In order to make ends meet, he becomes a sperm donor, initially by acquiescing to the desires of his former fiancé, Fatima Goodrich (played by Kerry Washington), who had become a lesbian, to have a child. She and her girlfriend, Alex Guerrero (played by Dania Ramirez), offer him a substantial sum of money to impregnate them both; this leads to Goodrich goading Armstrong into establishing a business in which groups of lesbians come over to his house and pay him $10,000 each to have sex with them in order to become pregnant.
He comes to believe that this arrangement is immoral, repeatedly stating that he is "not proud" of what he has done. He initiates a polyamorous relationship with Goodrich and Guerrero, and apparently maintains a friendship with all of the eighteen women who became pregnant by him.
The film is interspersed with a number of sub-plots - one of the women who Armstrong impregnates is the daughter of a mafia boss, Don Angelo Bonasera (played by John Turturro), who interrupts Armstrong's life. Armstrong's employers learn of his impregnation business, and use it in their campaign to sully his image in order to deflect attention from their own criminal business activities. Conflict is also depicted in the turbulent relationship between Armstrong's mother and his dependent diabetic father (played by football legend Jim Brown).
At the film's climax, Armstrong's situation is portrayed as a cause celebre, with protests being held in support of or against him, and the news media interviewing people on the street with respect to his sexual activities. Armstrong is called before a committee of the United States Senate investigating his alleged securities fraud, where both his services to lesbians and his relationship to the "Bonasera crime family" are raised.
Armstrong's situation is compared, both by cut-in scenes and by direct reference in dialogue, to the plight of Frank Wills, the security guard who discovered the break-in that led to the Watergate scandal, which brought down President Nixon.
[edit] Taglines
- One heterosexual male. 18 lesbians. His fee $10,000... each.
- 18 women want children. Jack is a white collar whistle-blower in need of a job.
- From the director of "She's Gotta Have It" and "25th Hour," a new film about one heterosexual male and 18 lesbians.
[edit] Trivia
- Spike Lee came up with the title from watching XFL football. A player named Rod Smart gained some notoriety by nicknaming himself He Hate Me; the main character references Smart when explaining why he has decided to nickname his ex-fiancé "She Hate Me".
- Raul Midon sang the theme song for the movie, "Adam 'N' Eve 'N' Eve".
- This was the last film that Ossie Davis appeared in as he died in February of 2005.
- Rapper Kimberly (Lil' Kim) Jones turned down the role of "Evelyn" in his film. She told Spike Lee that she thought it would affect her image.
- George W. Bush appears on the three dollar bill that appears during the opening credits of the film.
- Some real human births are seen with accompanying graphic nudity and related bodily fluids. A live human birth is also portrayed in another Spike Lee film, "Mo' Better Blues".
- "She hate me" was a line uttered by Boris Karloff as The Monster in Bride of Frankenstein when The Bride Elsa Lanchester hissed and screamed at him on first laying eyes on him.[1]
- In episode "Jamalot" of the TV series CSI:NY, "She Hate Me" was the stage name of a female roller derby star found dead on the track.
[edit] Award nominations
- BET Comedy Awards
- Black Reel Awards
- Best Breakthrough Performance (Anthony Mackie)
- Best Director (Spike Lee)
- Best Original Score (Terence Blanchard)
- Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted (Michael Genet & Spike Lee)
Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads • She's Gotta Have It • School Daze • Do the Right Thing • Mo' Better Blues • Jungle Fever • Malcolm X • Crooklyn • Clockers • Girl 6 • Get on the Bus • 4 Little Girls • He Got Game • Freak • Summer of Sam • The Original Kings of Comedy • Bamboozled • A Huey P. Newton Story • Jim Brown: All-American • Sucker Free City • 25th Hour • She Hate Me • Inside Man • When the Levees Broke
