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MOVIES / ON DVD / SUMMER OF SAM
Summer of Sam

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Summer of Sam (1999)

51%
100%
72%
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51 %
Reviews Counted: 77 Fresh: 39  Rotten:38 Average Rating: 5.7/10
 
Consensus: Spike Lee offers intense visuals but his storytelling feels crowded and overambitious.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 2 hrs 22 mins

Synopsis: SUMMER OF SAM, Spike Lee's sizzling interpretation of the summer of 1977 in New York City, when thermometers shattered and a serial killer terrorized the city, focuses on an Italian-American community in the Bronx--specifically, Dionna (Mira Sorvino) and Vinny (John Leguizamo), a couple... SUMMER OF SAM, Spike Lee's sizzling interpretation of the summer of 1977 in New York City, when thermometers shattered and a serial killer terrorized the city, focuses on an Italian-American community in the Bronx--specifically, Dionna (Mira Sorvino) and Vinny (John Leguizamo), a couple whose marriage is threatened by Vinny's obsession with other women. After Vinny returns home one night to find a killer has murdered two local women, he promises to mend his cheating ways, albeit unsuccessfully. As the media exploits the murders and a blackout threatens to unleash anarchy on the city, its inhabitants begin to look for a scapegoat who will release them from the reign of terror created by the chilling figure known only as the Son of Sam (Michael Badalucco). Lee's ambitious film does more than re-create the events that unfolded during the summer of 1977; in addition to being an entertaining time capsule, it also deals graphically with the concept of the mob mentality. [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: John Leguizamo, Mira Sorvino, Adrien Brody, Jennifer Esposito, Michael Badalucco

Director: Spike Lee
Screenwriter: Michael Imperioli, Victor Colicchio, Spike Lee
Producer: Jon Kilik, Spike Lee
Composer: Terence Blanchard

DVD Info

Release:

Sep 12, 2000

[DVD Details]

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
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N/R

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04/17/01
Geoffrey Macnab
Sight and Sound
N/R

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01/01/00
Empire Magazine
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N/R

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01/01/00
Empire Magazine
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01/01/00
Empire Magazine
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8/10

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01/01/00
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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04/27/07
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
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05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
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4/5

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12/06/05
Film Threat
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N/R

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04/09/05
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews
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B-

The story makes very important points, and shows us a graphic parable of the wages of sin. But the ugliness along the way will be too much for some viewers....

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01/15/05
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
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5/10

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08/11/04
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews
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3/4

Spike Lee's most ambitious movie, is joltingly inspired at times. It's also offensively redundant and needs editing.

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06/28/04
Judith Egerton
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
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3/4

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05/20/03
Susan Tavernetti
Palo Alto Weekly
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4/5

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12/08/02
Film Threat
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11/06/02
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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10/15/02
Margaret A. McGurk
Cincinnati Enquirer
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A

...tremendous, haunting, multi-textured ...

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08/23/02
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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06/05/02
Boxoffice Magazine
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A-

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04/03/02
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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• Summer of Sam at Rotten Tomatoes
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