A pulsating homage to life on New York's streets, achieved thanks to Lee's sleepless eye, but a passionate-yet-dignified study of racism, too.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:49
Fresh:48
Rotten:1
Average Rating:8.8/10
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Spike Lee's racial and political filmmaking bent is given the full treatment with this simmering exposé of racial tensions in a New York City neighborhood one scorching summer day. The film,... Spike Lee's racial and political filmmaking bent is given the full treatment with this simmering exposé of racial tensions in a New York City neighborhood one scorching summer day. The film, written by Lee (and nominated for an Oscar), follows a group of racially diverse inhabitants from Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood as they spend their day trying to avoid the oppressive heat. These include African American pizza deliveryman Mookie (Lee), the racially sensitive Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), and the silent, boom-box-blasting Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn). Also thrown into the mix are Sal (an Oscar-nominated Danny Aiello), the Italian-American proprietor of Sal's Pizzeria, as well as his two sons, Pino (John Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson), who hold completely opposing attitudes when it comes to race. After Buggin' Out tries to organize a boycott of Sal's because of the lack of racial diversity on his shop's Wall of Fame, the tensions explode in an act of senseless violence. Lee's film is an electric work of political entertainment that confronts sensitive racial issues head-on. He deftly blends humor and drama as well as using specific music to further amplify his theme (Public Enemy's song "Fight the Power" actually becomes the film's main catalyst for action). Boldly closing the film with opposing quotes from Malcolm X and Martin Luther King on the nature of race relations, Lee leaves it up to the viewer to decide if Mookie's actions were the correct ones. Aiello and Esposito are standouts in an all-star cast that includes Lee himself, his sister Joie, "discovery" Rosie Perez, and the married team of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Always one to spark controversy, Lee's summer drama finds the filmmaker at the peak of his craft. [More]
Starring: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito
Starring: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Rosie Perez
Director: Spike Lee
Director: Spike Lee
Screenwriter: Spike Lee
Producer: Spike Lee
Reviews for Do the Right Thing
The fact that a filmmaker as gifted as Lee has yet to top the movie says a lot about its power.
The film -- at once stylised and realistic -- buzzes throughout with the sheer, edgy bravado that comes from living one's life on the streets. It looks, sounds, and feels right.
It's perhaps one of the greatest summer movies of all time. Do the Right Thing is as perfect as a film can get.
Lee shows us both sides of the situation, and lets us decide for ourselves. The results are devastating.
[Spike] Lee doesn't attempt to answer the complicated questions of racism, misunderstanding and simmering anger as much as confront them with a hard clarity.
A riveting drama which remains just as intense as when it debuted in 1989.
A towering achievement in American cinema, Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing takes a hard look at a community in crisis. [Blu-ray]
Like Rear Window to Alfred Hitchcock, like Nashville to Robert Altman, like Playtime to Jacques Tati, Lee's Do the Right Thing is an undiluted representation of its creator's artistic command.
Lee cagily provides a litmus test for racial attitudes in 1989, but he does so by destroying the integrity of his characters, black and white.
A powerful and persuasive look at an ethnic community and what makes it tick--funky, entertaining, packed with insight, and political in the best, most responsible sense.
Prompted by the brutal Howard Beach killing of a young black man, Lee's politically charged drama is an angry assault on racism that benefits from bravura filmmaking. Still Lee's best and most important film.
It's a vibrant, passionate, funny movie, and like a true work of art, it both surprises and provokes.
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