Director: RZA
Writer: RZA
Stars: Shameik Moore, RJ Cyler, Paris Jackson
Synopsis: An ex-military convict seeks a fresh start in a small town, but his past catches up as he finds love amid danger and chaos.
In the Q&A following the screening of One Spoon of Chocolate, filmmaker and legendary NYC-based rapper RZA stated he had the idea for this film all the way back in 2011 and had only the first 40 pages of the screenplay for a while and couldn’t find the way forward. After seeing the film you could certainly tell that this has been on and off the burner for the better half of 15 years. One Spoon of Chocolate is an uneven ‘stranger in a new town’ film that lacks the charisma and charm of RZA’s other projects. There are a multitude of issues with this film with little pros to show for it, but most disappointingly One Spoon of Chocolate feels hollow for a film trying to say so much.
One Spoon of Chocolate follows former Army man and ex-con Unique (Shameik Moore) – possibly an homage to the Shaw Brothers first film studio – following his release from prison. Unique is placed in Karensville, Ohio, a town in which he has family, to try and live out his days as peacefully as he can. But the town is top-to-bottom corrupt, the townsfolk are incredibly racist and brutally violent. Acts displayed in the film include lynching, organ harvesting, and group beatings – all of which are shown as brutally as possible, not allowing the audience member to shy away from the horrors within.
One Spoon of Chocolate is wholly uneven as a film. When the film starts, we get something that feels a little more sensationalized, a little more exploitative, a platform that could’ve been built off of to be great. Then, after the first hour or so, the film seems to lose itself. It falls into something more self serious, losing the visual and thematic drive that preceded it. If you were to cut the film in segments, the first fifty minutes or so feels exploitative and purposeful, the following forty minutes that reads like one of Spike Lee’s socially aware films (something like BlacKkKlansman), then the remainder is just a big action blowout. There is a world where this could all blend together, but this did not.
In terms of the role white supremacy plays in the film, it seems to lean heavily on the economics side. While the angle is interesting, it is never explored further than a surface level glance. Obviously, RZA set out to speak on white supremacy and its existence, but when we’re at the stage we’re at in 2026 with how horrible it has gotten it feels sort of short of reality. In a way, it feels like someone trying to lampoon the National Enquirer, you can’t extend it much further without leaning into irony. Which, irony seemed to be the flavor at the beginning of the film, but quickly dissipated as the film progressed.
When I first started writing film criticism I touched on superfluous items that may not add to the total enjoyment of the film. For example, I was critical of acting at such a weirdly granular level that it seemed to add air into a room that isn’t asking for it. However, in One Spoon of Chocolate, Shameik Moore is extraordinarily bad. The other actors in the film do their role at the level they need to be (hell, Paris Jackson was a highlight, someone I was anticipating to just be visual furniture), but Shameik Moore cannot rise to the occasion. The film, at times, had some really excellent shots and lighting and the complete image could look excellent at times – then Shameik Moore would start speaking and it would melt all of the illusion and world that was built beforehand.
What One Spoon of Chocolate gets right is the final action sequence. RZA was aware of the lessons and ethos of Kung Fu and samurai films and it worked in this final segment. While the lead up to this point was less than ideal, the actual action was well worth it. There is an excellent restraint on the use of firearms and there is an emphasis on hand to hand combat and different items as weapons. If not for the rest of the movie being a drag, the build up to the final form of Unique’s prowess could have been something that is immortalized into film canon. Regardless, the final segment was well worth the journey to get there, warts and all.
It’s no secret that RZA is a massive film fan, and his enthusiasm is infectious. However, when it comes to his insertion of other film ideas into One Spoon of Chocolate, it feels lost. Sure, I recognize the references to Schindler’s List, Pulp Fiction, A Fistful of Dollars, all incredible films, but their homages are simply visual and nothing substantial. While I mentioned that RZA respected the style of Kung Fu films, that seemed to be the only philosophy he drew from. Everything else was just clunkily inserted in and didn’t feel as aware as the final action segment.
One Spoon of Chocolate is a film that had its heart in the right place but the execution was not there. RZA is an excellent artist, Enter the Wu-Tang is a top 10 album for me. I could listen to RZA talk about films for hours, but this film was certainly not one of his best. If you had told me this was his first feature film, I would believe you (and going into it, I did think it was his first feature film). If you were looking to find a great action film you can go watch John Wick, The Raid, or any Bruce Lee picture instead. There are redeeming qualities to One Spoon of Chocolate, but with the 112 minute runtime and bore of a middle section you could just see something else instead.
