It's been a long time since I've seen a Spike Lee Joint, even longer since I've seen one that Spike Lee directed himself. GET ON THE BUS broke the drought. Lee directed; Lee executive produced. But he didn't write the script -- which makes for a movie that is very typically Spike Lee in some ways and very different in others.

GET ON THE BUS follows the journey of a busload of Black men on their way from Los Angeles to the Million Man March in Washington in October of 1995. (Has it been that long ago already?) The men on the bus seem to be a catalog of Black male possibilities -- there's the absentee father trying to establish a relationship with his delinquent son; the mulatto from the suburbs defending his "Blackness"; the reformed Muslim; a gay, Black couple negotiating the end of their relationship and the homophobia around them; the paternal bus driver/working man (played by Charles Dutton) and the grand-paternal fountain of wisdom (played by Ossie Davis). There's even a UCLA film student whom one of the passengers calls "Spike Lee Junior."

What do these men do? Well, they talk. And they lecture and they pray and they preach and they argue and they laugh and they sing and they talk. And they talk. And their talk runs like a treatise on Black identity, diversity and politics. Every opportunity for conversation is an opportunity for ideological discussion. Even when a couple of the characters make time with some ladies at a rest stop, it becomes a politically charged scene. I suppose it can't be helped given the nature of what they're doing.

It seems typical of Spike Lee to do a film that asks hard questions about Black issues and race dynamics without flinching and without doling out easy answers. The movie is didactic, but it presents many points of view. It's preachy, but there are many pulpits. With the exception of one character, no viewpoint is outright rejected.

Lee also likes his films in the heart of controversy. The Million Man March had many inherent complexities -- the exclusion of women and the leadership of Louis Farrakhan among them. And it's not unusual in Spike Lee films for the characters to talk a lot about their positions.

But the sheer volume of talking is unusual for a Spike Lee film. And there's none of the flashy Spike Lee style of camera and editing. His style takes a back seat to the screenplay and, more importantly, to the performances.

Reggie Rock Bythewood wrote the script. It's his first produced screenplay and, in some ways, it shows. The plot is very predictable, the scenes are sometimes overblown. Big dramatic speeches abound. But it manages to be both very funny, very serious and very interesting. I wanted to hear everything these men had to say. And despite all their talking, I rarely felt they talked too much. The film moves like gangbusters. I was surprised to come out of GET ON THE BUS and find that two hours had passed.

Ossie Davis and Charles Dutton may be the most recognizable names in GET ON THE BUS, but the entire ensemble cast is great. Sure, the script will often hand them hokey lines, but these guys make it real. Many of them have little if any prior credits. I have to tip my hat to the casting director (Reuben Cannon) for picking the team.

Music plays an important part in the film. Lee rarely uses it to make drama, rather he uses it to undercut drama. Volatile political arguments will have mellow, easy-going R&B tunes playing behind them. Even the inevitable fight scene is toned down with music that seems to say "everything's going to be all right." I do think the film went a little overboard on the "American Road" harmonica, especially near the end. Otherwise it looks like a great soundtrack.

But the best use of music is not in the soundtrack -- it's the songs the men sing on their way to Washington. They are several scenes of the men singing, making up lyrics as they go along. It sounds stupid, but it's great. I think my favorite part of the movie was the "roll call" song where the men introduce themselves to each other with a couple lines of rhyme, e.g. "My name is Mike" "YEAH?" "I'm from New York" "YEAH?" "I ain't no Muslim" "YEAH?" "Still don't eat pork." I've had "roll call... shabulyah, sha, sha, shabullyah... roll call..." rolling around my head ever since.

For those of you who have or will see GET ON THE BUS: I'd like to see a sequel about the ex-Crip and the LAPD officer. I think that relationship has great potential for another movie.

Anyway, this isn't your typical Spike Lee Joint -- but it's good. You may groan at the talkiness or the structure, but you'll certainly laugh, too. And you'll be left with a lot to think about.

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