“Nothing!” But his tale of a black teen from Atlanta who spends a summer in Brooklyn with a grandfather he doesn’t really know, has taken a pummeling from many critics

(CBS) Spike Lee’s rant at the Sundance premiere of his “Red Hook Summer” may have only drawn attention to a movie that many critics say does not deliver.

Pictures: Sundance 2012Pictures: 카지노사이트 Snapshots from Sundance

During a Q&A after the screening of “Red Hook Summer” Sunday, Lee launched intoan expletive-filled rant about Hollywood executives after actor Chris Rock asked how the movie would have looked if it had been made by a big studio.

“They know nothing about black people,” Lee said of studio execs. “Nothing!”

But his tale of a black teen from Atlanta who spends a summer in Brooklyn with a grandfather he doesn’t really know, has taken a pummeling from many critics. Here’s a sample of what they had to say:

David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter: “But Lee’s latest rambles through almost two hours of unfocused drama, burdened with endless didactic editorializing, before lurching out of nowhere into ugly revelations and violence.”

Robert Levin of The Atlantic: “Dreams of vintage Lee’s return go sadly unfulfilled, however, as the film is a long-winded, rambling mess. Far from a personal, character-driven production, the movie offers Lee’s grandiose take on what it means to be African American in the 21st century (with an assist from co-writer James McBride). There’s a lot to be said for such an enterprise, particularly when it comes from the mind of one of our premiere social chroniclers. But this is a 135-minute harangue, not a movie.”

Owen Gleiberman of WE.com: “My own feeling is that if the film had been better, he (Lee) might not have been reduced to griping about the movies the Man won’t let him make. For Red Hook Summer isn’t just a letdown. It’s a bit of an ordeal.”

Peter Debruge of The Chicago Tribune: “For those expecting Mookie’s mid-career encore to signify a return to Spike Lee’s roots, “Red Hook Summer” instead surprises — and to some extent delights — as yet another radically unique entry in the director’s iconoclastic oeuvre. Lee’s vibrant coming-of-ager isn’t so much a follow-up to ‘Do the Right Thing’ as a fresh survey of the same geographic turf, following a well-to-do black teen forced to spend the summer with his Bible-thumping grandfather in the Brooklyn projects.”