By William Wolf

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Anthony Mackie may be the first performer to have his face depicted on animated migrating sperm, with his expression denoting either joy or job fatigue. Mackie is the star of Spike Lee’s new film “She Hate Me.” Lee is a director who goes for broke in whatever he does, and here he is boldly addressing such subjects as corporate corruption, lesbians seeking out males to give them babies, the need for an AIDS vaccine, whistle blowing, government hearings, racism and family relationships. That’s a tall order but Lee is having fun with his targeting and the result is an enjoyable if sprawling movie unlike any other you may come across.

Lee lets us know immediately the importance of the quest for money by having the opening credits over a background of wavy bills with assorted presidents on them, ending with Bush the younger on one and an Enron label on it too. It’s visually dramatic and sets the tone.

Mackie is likable in the role of John Henry “Jack” Armstrong, who received an MBA at Harvard and has risen to a top position in a biotech company that is trying to get an AIDS vaccine approved. Woody Harrelson plays the smarmy company boss. Mackie’s immediate superior, Margo Chadwick, is played with nasty authority by Ellen Barkin. When Mackie learns that the results of the vaccine testing has been rigged and the company is engaged in a cover up to keep its image looking profitable, Mackie becomes a whistle blower. The retaliation is swift and ugly. He finds his bank account frozen, he is blacklisted in the job market, and worse, he is being framed as the responsible party for the company’s criminal activities.

In dire financial trouble, Mackie reluctantly succumbs to the request by his ex-girlfriend Fatima (Kerry Washington), now a lesbian, to impregnate her and her lover in return for cash. Soon he is servicing a whole batch of lesbians at $10,000 a pop. Lee shows us copulation scenes. Would the lesbians be getting so much pleasure out of the sex act with a male? No matter. The scenes are amusing for the audience. It is in this context that Lee extends his imagination to showing animated scenes of sperm racing into action. Woody Allen used a similar idea in depicting sperm summoned to duty. But Lee puts a face on the little guys.

A complication arises when one of the women Mackie impregnates is Simona (played by the gorgeous Monica Bellucci), daughter of mob boss Don Angelo Bonasera, portrayed by John Turturro, who playfully gives a very funny Marlon Brando imitation. Mackie is summoned for a conference with the grandfather-to-be godfather.

Lee pours much, much more into the broth, including a hearing, presided over by Brian Dennehy as Chairman Church, at which Mackie gets to tell the truth, and a courtroom scene ruled by Ossie Davis as Judge Buchanan. The large cast includes the bevy of mostly attractive women who come to Mackie to be serviced. David Bennent is intriguingly strange as Dr. Herman Schiller, who has been overseeing the AIDS research. Lee co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Genet, and the film is underlined with rather sedate scoring. Lee has ambitiously given the public a movie to think about as well as to enjoy, and once again, he admirably does his kind of film without seeming to worry about what critics may or may not say. A Sony Pictures Classics release.

  

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