SPIKE Lee's latest is set in the summer of 77. A serial killer is on the loose in New York City. Disco is popular, but new Wave and punk music is on the rise and in fact it is the punk fashions, spiky hair and pins through the body that is treated with suspicion by staid NY residents, into flamboyantly coloured waistcoats, disco flares and Studio 54.

An arresting beginning to the thrilling sounds of Abba's Fernando and Boogie Nights, reveals a heartless serial killer shooting couples in cars and a fat man shuffling away into the darkness.

We are then introduced to womaniser Vinny (John Leguizamo) who has been secretly humping his wife Dionna's cousin whilst Dionna (Mira Sorvino) is dancing in the club. He is in the vicinity of the killing when it happens.

A bunch of neighbourhood 'bums' treat Vinny's punk friend Ritchie (Adrien Brody) with growing suspicion eventually thinking he must be the serial killer and to a large extent Spike's film (arguably his best since Do the Right Thing) is about racism, people judging fatally on appearance and about the fading relationship of Vinny and Dionna against the background of this murder-laced Summer.

The downside is that the film is 142 minutes long - some ruthless editing might have been in order. We don't for instance need Spike playing a reporter, nor do we need so many shots of Mr Serial Killer in torment at his home. The musical sequences, including great songs by The Who (Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled again) and well-edited action of punk Ritchie, are the best moments in the film. It's entertaining, but it's also a long slog for the final pan out at the end.