The best thing about Spike Lee’s film She Hate Me is also the worst thing about Spike Lee’s film. Even if Lee and co-writer Michael Genet tell you this is a film about sex, politics and greed--and it is--this movie is more importantly and controversially a Spike Lee lesbian flick. Whatever else you get out of this film is an added bonus, like extra cushioning, because all of the hype surrounding She Hate Me has to do with Lee’s own ideas of girl-on-girl sex and reproduction.

She Hate Me follows the story of John Henry “Jack” Armstrong (Anthony Mackie), a vice president who finds himself in the role of whistle-blower, as his once-successful drug company falls prey to an Enron-type scandal. As a way to compensate for his once lavish existence, he gets himself into a unique line of work: after being propositioned by his ex-girlfriend, Fatima (Kerry Washington) and her now-lesbian partner, Alex (Dania Ramirez) to help them make babies, Jack agrees to accept cash for sex and winds up screwing both of them.

Getting pregnant goes nice and easy for Fatima, while Alex, who at first refuses to actually have sex with Jack, isn’t having any luck with her turkey baster. Once she decides to have penetrative sex with Jack, Alex’s luck instantly changes, and Fatima and Alex are one happy, pregnant family. They are so happy, in fact, that Fatima arranges to share her newfound wealth with her lesbian sisters and starts a service for other members of her community. The lesbians come to Jack looking for man love to provide them with children. As luck will have it, the 17 other lesbians who pay for a flick from Jack’s special wand all wind up pregnant.

There are some really funny, endearing and ridiculous moments as Jack tries to keep it up and keep it going. The nineteen lesbians involved in the film are individual and diverse women. Their characters are all enjoyable and they could have all used a little extra screen time to make up for the lack of an otherwise flat plot.

If you enjoy movies set in New York, Lee doesn’t disappoint. Although you won’t see as many sights as you do in a movie like Spiderman, one of the more enjoyable elements of Lee’s film is that a New York location is always refreshing. The supporting cast is really talented and the characters of Powell (Woody Harrelson) and Margo (Ellen Barkin) are easy to love to hate. Harrelson portrays his character with a depth and darkness that makes it hard to take your eyes off his presence, and Barkin’s role as a high-powered executive is sexy and chilling.

Credit needs to be given to Tristan Taormino, the award-winning author, columnist, editor, and sex educator who Lee’s team had the smarts to hire to make sure that lesbians were fairly represented in this film. And although in real life, few lesbians would seek out a man’s direct help to have a baby (they would adopt or go to sperm banks), Taormino saw to it that Jack’s scenes with these women were realistic and fun.

Lee's motivations, however, are a little suspect: at a recent screening, when Lee was asked about his choice to make almost all the women in the film lesbians, he stumbled over his reasoning. Although he didn’t go as far as blatantly claiming that men like to see lesbians get it on with other men or that lesbian sex was totally hot, it was as if he didn’t need to actually say it. While sperm needs to be involved in the actual creation of a fetus, Lee could have made it more realistic by expanding the plot to include a more diverse group of women, including single mothers and others whose partners had problems helping with conception.

Spike Lee is definitely an artist who surrounds himself with controversy. This movie couldn’t be timelier, as gay marriage has been placed under the spotlight, and other issues surrounding gays and lesbians will eventually be brought in front of major institutions of power. However, Lee could have chosen a different ending to his film. While some may view the ending as a perfect conclusion, this non-traditional relationship leaves a lot to be desired.

She Hate Me is a unique story and Lee deserves credit for finding his own way to portray the issues surrounding some of the more controversial current affairs. The film is worth seeing for that reason alone, even with its flaws.

For an alternative take on the film, see this review.