Consistency and movies, many times mirror good luck charms and poker. Once you have something that works and pays off, stick to it until it runs out of luck.

Unlike Spike Lee’s past three films, Malcolm X, Clockers and Crooklyn, his newest film, Girl 6, breaks away from the films for which Lee is best known, and has brought him the best luck, a move many in the film industry would consider risky.

The story follows Judy (Theresa Randle) a struggling New York actress who tries to follow the straight and narrow path by using her acting talent as art and not perversion.

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After numerous attempts and failures at landing a role, she takes a job at a phone sex company, where she becomes known as girl number six. At first, it is just a job to pay the bills and support herself until she lands an acting gig.

But eventually, she does not see this as a regular job like the other girls she works with. She justifies having the job by saying it is an avenue on which she can channel her acting career.

As time goes by, the job becomes somewhat of an obsession and addiction as she becomes emotionally involved with some of the regular callers. She takes another phone sex job where she works out of her apartment. There she can dress the way she wants, and she can free herself of all inhibitions.

This is one of the first films by Lee that should not be considered an African-American film. Though the director and main characters are African American, the aim and focus of this movie is not racially motivated.

Instead, the movie focuses on the social disease of the sometimes sleazy, scum-ridden world of phone sex, and how it can draw both sides of the phone into its dark realm.

The movie uses many visual effects but not for long periods of time. Just at opportune moments to set the feeling or emotion to a certain scene. Viewers may feel a few of these scenes are similar to some of the dark, erotic images in Natural Born Killers in the way Lee experiments with framing people in unusual and distorted scenes. Lee uses these effects wisely and does not overuse them.

What really distinguishes this as a Lee film is the way the personalities of each character are quickly established, like in his past films. But in Girl 6, Lee has no stereotypes to work with, like he did in Do the Right Thing.

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In Girl 6, Lee relies less on his screenplay for the execution of this personality setting and more on the premiere acting, from the lead role all the way down to the small cameos.

Randle plays the part of Judy in sizzling style. She is sensual, attractive and most of all she takes control of the role like it was second nature.

There is one problem with the role, but it is not in the way Randle approaches the part. For someone who was set so hard against exploitation, Judy seems a natural from the first call she takes, in which the caller reaches sexual climax. She seems good, maybe too good for a beginner.

Spike Lee fits perfectly into the role of Jimmy, Judy’s neighbor, who is a baseball-card collector, waiting for the price of his cards to mature so he can become a millionaire. He is obnoxious, and lazy, but he also is funny and sincere, and Lee weaves in and out of these characteristics easily.

The cameos by Quentin Tarantino, John Turturro and Madonna add another dimension to the movie with their big-shot, know-all attitudes, further emphasizing the cut-throat reality of showbiz.

This is far from being one of Spike Lee’s better films. This film will not kick-start feelings and emotions like Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X. It is unfair to compare Girl 6 to these movies anyway because of the obvious differences and the lighter tones of this film.

Audiences have placed a responsibility on Lee that no longer will allow him to make a movie that is less than great without having his integrity and talents placed under a microscope.

Girl 6 is not a great movie. But it is definitely a good movie. It also serves as a film that disproves the notion that Lee is a one-track African-American filmmaker, making films only for African Americans.