Great Monologues, Part 1: Clockers

"If I ever see you again... I'll book you on charges of criminal solicitation and conspiracy to commit murder. I'll let Andre beat you down again. Then pick up Rodney on the same charges and I'll make sure you two share the same cell, the same fuckin' bed. Do you understand me clearly?"

 In terms of length, this isn't much of a monologue.  I imagine that most actors might deliver these lines as mere threats from one character to another.  But as delivered by Harvey Keitel at the end of Clockers, these lines become a powerful moment.  As Rocco Klein, a police detective whose most recent case has damaged the lives of all concerned, Keitel delivers the lines with the character's newly found world-weariness.  This case has, quite simply, worn Rocco out.

The story involves Ronald "Strike" Dunham, a small-time drug dealer in the 'hood.  Strike is not your average movie drug dealer.  He dreams of getting out of the business, and although none of the characters ever realize this, Clockers, in a way, is about destiny's struggle with whether or not to allow Strike to do this.  Strike is no saint -- he never struggles with either the illegality nor the immorality of his job -- but he isn't a bad man, either, and he sincerely hopes for the best for those around him.  One key moment to understanding the duality of his nature is a scene in which he lectures a pregnant woman who tries to buy drugs for him.  Good business sense should tell him not to give this lecture.  Good morality would prevent him from making the sale.  Strike compromises between the two by finally agreeing to sell her the drugs -- but with reluctance, and "only this one last time."  Writers Richard Price and Spike Lee intentionally make it unclear whether he will stay true to his word and refuse to sell the pregnant woman any more drugs.

Strike, like many characters in this film, is a victim more of circumstance than of his own sins.  One misunderstanding leads his boss Rodney (Delroy Lindo) to believe that Strike has betrayed him to the police.  Another misunderstanding leads police office Andre the Giant (Keith David) to believe that Strike is responsible for a young boy's possession of a gun that ultimately led to trouble.  Strike is actually innocent of both charges, but despite Andre's altruism and Rodney's villainy, neither of them can be faulted for their erroneous beliefs.

At the center of all of this is Rocco, who, despite his job as a police officer, couldn't care less about Strike's day job.  Rocco is a homicide detective, and he's out to solve a homicide; he's interested in the fact that Strike is a drug dealer only in so far as it provides leverage against Strike when Strike becomes a suspect, but if Strike turns out to be innocent of murder, Rocco doesn't seem that interested in whether Strike ends up in jail for his drug dealing or not.

Slowly, gradually, Strike's life of crime does catch up with him, however, and one by one, even former allies become enemies, despite Strike's constant attempts to do what's right (except, you know, for the fact that he deals drugs for a living).

When I first saw Clockers, I interpreted Rocco's monologue of threats to Strike as extreme cruelty.  Both Andre and Rodney want to victimize Strike (by beating the shit out of him at best, murdering him at worst), and Rocco is threatening to allow them to do so.  In retrospect, however, I now lean toward an opposite interpretation:  Rocco's threats are actually a veiled act of extreme kindness.  He knows that if Strike returns to the 'hood where he currently lives, he'll get sucked back into the life of a drug dealer.  He'll be surrounded by enemies.  Either Andre will kill him, Rodney will kill him, a rival drug dealer will kill him, or, if he manages to avoid all of that, he will still lose his soul to the business he had initially chosen.

Rocco is offering Strike a way out -- a way out of a dangerous, immoral life that will chew Strike up and spit him out as either dead or evil.  But the only way to make sure Strike has any future at all is to make absolutely clear to him that he cannot return, ever.

What's more, Rocco's monologue emphasizes one of the film's biggest mysteries.  Just as Rocco's about to drop Strike off at the train station, so that Strike can make his escape, Strike asks, "What made you care about me?" -- a reasonable question, considering that Rocco started out the investigation with indifference, and even a touch of racism.  But Rocco refuses to answer, and instead delivers his litany of threats.  Paradoxically, we are given insight into the film, precisely by Rocco's refusal to allow insight into his character's motivation.