Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- mournful
- urgent
- gritty
- serious crime drama night
- Spike Lee retrospective
What critics said
Critics broadly regard it as an urgent, mournful, socially engaged crime drama whose stark violence and emotional force outweigh its narrative and tonal unevenness.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Rocco Klein's murder investigation points beyond the shooter toward the drug-and-gun system affecting the entire housing-project community.
Strike is a young drug pusher whose loyalty to Rodney and entrapment in project life conflict with the possibility of leaving that world.
Rodney's model trains recur as a distinctive motif contrasting miniature control with the disorder and violence surrounding him.
The film's rough, dark-hued cinematography gives the housing projects, drug exchanges, and violent scenes an angry documentary-like force.
Films like Clockers, and why
New Jack City
urban crime drama examining drug economies, systemic pressure, and community survival with a socially conscious perspective
Fresh
mournful, character-driven crime drama about institutional violence and the human cost of the drug trade
Juice
urgent 1990s hood drama combining coming-of-age tension, street-level realism, and moral conflict
Do the Right Thing
stylized urban crime film focused on racial tension, community crisis, and the limits of individual intervention
Movie Details
- Director
- Spike Lee
- Release Date
- 1995-09-15
- Runtime
- 128 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (372)
Cast
- Harvey Keitel
- John Turturro
- Delroy Lindo
- Mekhi Phifer
- Isaiah Washington
- Keith David
- Peewee Love
- Regina Taylor
- Thomas Jefferson Byrd
- Sticky Fingaz
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- ALLBLK Apple TV channel, ALLBLK Amazon channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Clockers about?
- A young Brooklyn drug pusher becomes trapped between a false confession, a murder investigation, and the violent system that shaped his community.
- What is Clockers like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Clockers as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Clockers violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Clockers as graphic.
- What did critics think of Clockers?
- Critics broadly regard it as an urgent, mournful, socially engaged crime drama whose stark violence and emotional force outweigh its narrative and tonal unevenness.
- Which films are like Clockers?
- Films with a similar feel include New Jack City, Fresh, Juice, and Do the Right Thing.
- How long is Clockers?
- Clockers runs 128 minutes.
- Where can I watch Clockers?
- In United States, Clockers streams on ALLBLK Apple TV channel, ALLBLK Amazon channel .
