Rating: 
Summary: Do the Right Thing Review
Review: It's the hottest day of the summer and racial tensions run deep in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn, New York. This is the backdrop for Spike Lee's controversial 1989 film, "Do The Right Thing". Many critics and movie-goers were quick to blast this film for being what they perceived to be a "racist" movie. Most people who say this have probably only seen the movie once and were so quick to complain about its tension-filled ending."Right Thing" stars writer-director Lee as Mookie, a somewhat lazy pizza delivery boy who works at the local pizzeria run by Sal and his Italian-American sons. Through Mookie's many trips through the neighborhood, we get acquainted with some of the other "characters" such as the block's "wise man" (or "town drunk", depending on how you perceive him), "Da Mayor" (Ossie Davis). We also get introduced to the trouble-making Buggin' It Out who is intent on boycotting Sal's Famous until they "put some brothas on the wall". Then, there's Radio Raheem, whose boombox blasts Public Enemy's "Fight The Power" loudly through out the movie. He doesn't speak much as the music seems to be his outlet of expression. It also happens to get him in a lot of trouble as the movie progresses. Lee's treatmant of certain characters in "Right Thing" is questionable at times. He seems to feel strongly that many of the white characters in this New York neighborhood would root for Boston sports teams because their top players are also white. At times, Danny Aiello's Sal seems sympathetic and kind while in the end, he is more or less portrayed as a "closet racist". This might be why some of us are so fast to make observations about the film's racial biases but I've never felt that "Do The Right Thing" has ever been about who is right and who is wrong. In the end, everyone loses out because rather than go about handling certain small problems by compromising, people choose to argue over who is "doing the right thing" and who isn't. In the end, people are hurt and killed, property is destroyed, and all that seems to remain is animosity. While I may argue with the way that Spike wrote certain characters, this is "his" movie. Would the ending situation have been any different if he had re-wrote them? Probably not. So many of its critics fail to see the big picture with "Do The Right Thing". It isn't about whether Sal was right or whether Mookie was right or Buggin' It Out. The original problem was so small, so minor, and each of the characters allowed it to balloon into a big one. Even the less important characters contributed to the problem by instigating it further. The only character who seemed to understand what was going on was Samuel L. Jackson's almost narrator-like radio DJ, Senor Love Daddy. He understands it, he sees the tension esculating, and he is telling everyone to relax but it's too late. "And that's the triple truth, Ruth".
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant, scorching movie
Review: Spike Lee takes us to a single block in Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year in his awesomely brilliant movie "Do The Right Thing". The movie opens on a sultry early morning; by the time it ends, on a sweltering midnight of the same day, the heat, and the movie, have built up unbearable tensions that explode in in a confrontation that engulfs the street and everyone in it. At the heart of the block and the movie is Sal's Famous Pizzeria, run by Sal and his two sons from Bensonhurst (also in Brooklyn but it might as well be on the other side of the planet), with its "Wall of Fame" covered with photographs of famous Italian-Americans, glaringly out of place and insultingly insensitive on this African-American street in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The movie presents us with an unforgettable set of characters, including Danny Aiello in a great performance as Sal, Spike Lee as Mookie, his delivery man, Rosie Perez as Mookie's long-suffering and neglected girlfriend, Giancarlo Esposito as Mookie's radical friend Buggin' Out, Bill Nunn as Radio Raheem with his suitcase-size boom box that eats up 20 D batteries at a clip, the nearly legendary husband-wife acting team of Ossie Davis and Ruby Lee as Da Mayor, the street bum, and Mother Sister, the neighborhood snoop (every neighborhood has to have one), Samuel L. Jackson as Senor Love Daddy, and Joie Lee, Spike Lee's real-life sister, who plays Mookie's sister Jade in the film. Among a host of minor characters, the best are the three men parked on the sidewalk, ML, played by Paul Benjamin, Coconut Sid, played by Frankie Faison, and Sweet Dick Willie, played by the late Robin Harris, who act as a kind of Greek chorus to the unfolding events. Much of the speaking parts of these three was ad-libbed on camera, and the actors seem to have had a ball with their characterizations (Buggin' Out: "You wanna boycott Sal's Famous Pizzeria?" Sweet Dick Willie, observing Buggin' Out's every-which-way haircut: "You oughta boycott that barber who f---ed up your head.") Always present, and intrusive, are a squad car with two white cops, who view the neighborhood inhabitants, and are viewed by them, with undisguised contempt. The street, and the environs, are so convincingly portrayed that the heat is palpable; we can almost feel their discomfort as we sympathize at their attempts to alleviate it. One of the most priceless scenes in the film is the loudmouthed "alien" who drives through the block in an open Cadillac convertible and dares the kids to get it wet (when he finally manages to pull over and open the door, Niagara Falls spills out). A demand by Buggin' Out that Sal put some photographs of blacks on the Wall of Fame, which Sal dismisses out of hand, sets the stage for the confrontation that will blow sky-high. Buggin' Out returns to the pizzeria just before closing time with Radio Raheem, boom box blasting away at full volume, and Sal, his last nerve shot, silences the noise with a baseball bat. The resulting free-for-all spills out into the street just as the police arrive; Radio Raheem is pulled off Sal, who he is choking silly, and killed by the police with an illegal choke-hold. The police speed off (one could say they fled the scene of their crime), leaving Sal and his sons alone to face the neighborhood's rage. The pizzeria is torched, the neighborhood riots, and the firetruck arrives with firehoses turned on the rioters instead of the pizzeria, in a scene reminiscent of Sheriff Bull Connor in 1960's Alabama. "Do The Right Thing" is one of the most searing commentaries on American race relations that has ever been put on film. It's provocative, it's insightful, it's profound, it's a masterpiece, and it's definitely Spike Lee's best movie.
Rating:
Summary: Do The Right Thing
Review: I still remember coming out of the movie theatre crying after seeing this film. Spike Lee is one of the most thought provoking writer/directors of his time and this film proves it.
Using the hottest day in Bed-Sty as the backdrop for escalating racial tensions was genius. Watching the film, one never knows why on this particular day Buggin Out became enraged about the fact that there were no pictures of African Americans on the pizzaria's wall of fame but then, one doesn't have to. The message in the film was & is to this day that racial unrest/tensions simmer just below the surface in situations, neighborhoods, and work and ANYTHING at any time came cause those passions to escalate into an out of control situation. The title Do The Right Thing encourages each viewer to ask him/herself exactly what the right thing is. The character of Mookie was not there to show that his actions were the "right thing" only how one young man reacted in a given situation. I still remember reviewers advising strong police turnouts at theatres showing this film stating that "the natives" might riot due to the nature of the film - patented to keep the white people scared and away from the film. Thankfully it didn't work and hopefully people who view this movie do so with open minds - it's a great commentary on race relations because quite frankly, a lot of us live in neighborhoods just like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Hot Day In Brooklyn
Review: Spike Lee's 1989 film Do The Right Thing is among a handful of films that rise above the level of actual entertainment. It is thought-provoking, educational study of race relations. The film takes place during one extremely hot day in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is predominately black, but the film centers around a pizzeria owned by Sal (Danny Aiello) who is white. All of Sal's customers are the black, but on his wall he has pictures of white film and music stars. This is a source of irritation to some customers, especially the radically minded Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito). But Sal refuses to change and he goes about his business. Sal's two sons, Pino (John Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson) also work at the pizzeria as does Mookie (Mr. Lee) who is Sal's delivery boy. Pino is highly bigoted and isn't afraid to let his opinions be know, while Vito is more sensitive and adverse to confrontation. Real life husband and wife Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee appear as the neighborhood elders, Da Mayor & Mother Sister who are constantly trading humorous barbs at one another while dispensing advice to the locals. Other interesting characters such as Radio Raheem, Sweet Dick Willie & DJ Mister Senor Love Daddy are featured throughout the film. Mr. Lee does a brilliant job of conveying the extreme heat that has overtaken the neighborhood. You can almost feel the heat while watching the film. Tensions also slowly rise through the film until the climatic riot scene where Sal's pizzeria is burned down, started by Mookie throwing a garbage can through the window. This is particularly devastating to Sal as he genuinely cared for Mookie and can't believe Mookie would do this to him. Mr. Lee's message in the film is that one doesn't know exactly what the right thing is. He illustrates this by the messages of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Dr. King was for a peaceful solution to racism while Malcolm X said to fight for equality by any means necessary. Is passively sitting back right or is violence right? Mr. Lee never answers the question, which is exactly his point. Do The Right Thing was shunned at the 1989 Academy Awards garnering only a nomination for Mr. Aiello (which was richly deserved) in the Best Supporting Actor category. Ironically the film that won Best Picture was Driving Miss Daisy which was the stereotypical Hollywood portrayal of blacks as subservient workers and the type of film that Mr. Lee's pictures were the antithesis of. All in all, Do The Right Thing is a brilliant movie and one that deserves all the accolades that it received.
Rating:
Summary: Do The Right Thing
Review: Ah, Spike Lee's ''Do The Right Thing'' made in 1989 is one of the most controversial ever made, it brought bough negative and critical acclaim for Spike Lee, it was
probably his best movie during his rise to fame. He had just done ''She's gotta
have it'' which was basically a hormonal sex based movie and ''School Daze'', not necessary Oscar material so Spike got serious and gave us his best effort to date. He has since gone a spiral delivering some good hits and some misses but Spike whether the film is bad or not, is one director that I can say no matter what strikes a chord with you after watching one of his film (with the exception of the first 2). ''Do the Right Thing'' was made during the long hot summer of 1988 , shot on location in the bed sluy slums of Brooklyn New York. The special 2 disc dvd of the film revealed several details of the film which I found interesting, though not surprising which I will explain but first the plot. Plot: Well this is a film about racism plain and simple, however the debate seems to be which party in the film is right and which party is wrong. Danny Aieloo plays Sal owner of Sal's Pizzaria in NY. Sal is a very proud Italian American who has had his business for over 25 yrs years with his sons Pino (John Turturo) and ML (Paul Benjamin). Sal is an oldfashioned, hard working man who makes his living of his pizzas. He does have some views, he views Italian American's as the best people around around. His son on the other hand Pino (John Turturo) can be called a racist, he views black people as ''monkey'' and ''apes'' and hates
the sight of one. His brother ML on the other hand is very tolerant of the people around him. Sal has a worker named ''Mookie'' (Spike Lee) a somewhat deadbeat father with a loudmouth Puerto Rican girlfriend (Rosie Perez). In fact his girlfriend doesn't seem
that fond of Mookie. Mookie as it turns out like Pino has some racist views of his son, he doesn't particulary like white folks and when he brings in his black friends Radio Raseem (Bill Nun)and CoconuT sID (Frankie Faison) to stir up trouble in Sal's
pizzarria well sooner a clash of cultures will erupt in violence. However the debate is which side is right and is this really a movie about race or a movie where one race tries to impose their culture on someone else's ideals? For instance, Sal (Aiello) does not invite Mookie's friends to the Pizzarria. He dislikes them very much. Mookie's friends equally dislike Sal because for one , he doesn't put black people on his walls, but then the questions arises. If Mookie's friends dont like Sal, why do they come to eat pizza there? Why do they time and time again impose their black culture on him? You can very much make the argument the black characters although they are trying to make out Sal as this monster racist, actually come to be the racists themselves. Sal himself almost throughout the whole movie displays no violence. He yells at these guys and tells them to leave but it never reaches an an extreme the Mookie character who by the end purposedly starts a riot. In fact there is one great where Sal tells the group that this is his place and if they don't like it they can go somehwere else, but they never do. By that alone Sal, has acted in the most nonviolent way possible and still standing up for himself and his ideals. Before that, we see more of this bigoted racists attitude but not on Sal, but on Korean characters in the movie. During one point, a couple of black unemployed old men, start pointing several of the neighborhood Korean shops and immediately start throwing obscenities about the Korean people working in them.They never once consider the situation from the point of the Koreans,the shop is their only livelihood, but as far these racist black men go, the Koreans are taking the jobs away. It's a very stupid and racist attitude to have, even Sal's attitude never reaches that extreme. Going back to near the end movie it's the black characters who become the aggesor such as when Radio Raseem invades Sal's pizzarria and turns his radio on loudly inside the man's shop, not only is it disrespectful, when Sal himself has said not to do it, but it's an act of aggresion, it's an antagonizing to bait other people to do the same thing and bring on harm to Sal's pizzaria. So you can see although Spike Lee tries to make this film about race and race culture, he doesn't do a great job in that end because one side ultimately looks worse than the other. His message of trying to create an atmosphere where both blacks and whites are at fault for the disintegrating situation fall fault. Still ''Do The Right Thing'' as flawed and misguided as it is, does bring up this topic of race relation and the wrong way of trying to reconcile a bad situation in that regard, the movie should actually be called ''Doing the Wrong Thing''. The 2 disc dvd I saw were great providing a great variety of info on the movie such as the 60 minute documentary on the making of the film which is very intriguing. The audio commentary by Spike Lee is there too as is a ''Look Back'' 10 yrs at the events of the film, how it has somewhat affected peoples views. Overall the DVDs for the
film were great, including the music video by RunDMC ''Fight the Power'', but it wasn't something that presented anything I already didnt know. But check out the dvds and if you don't have a copy check out the vhs as ''Do The Right Thing'' is a bit of phenomen with some important views on racism although it just doesn't present them in the best possible manner.
Rating:
Summary: Do the Right Thing Review
Review: It's the hottest day of the summer and racial tensions run deep in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn, New York. This is the backdrop for Spike Lee's controversial 1989 film, "Do The Right Thing". Many critics and movie-goers were quick to blast this film for being what they perceived to be a "racist" movie. Most people who say this have probably only seen the movie once and were so quick to complain about its tension-filled ending. "Right Thing" stars writer-director Lee as Mookie, a somewhat lazy pizza delivery boy who works at the local pizzeria run by Sal and his Italian-American sons. Through Mookie's many trips through the neighborhood, we get acquainted with some of the other "characters" such as the block's "wise man" (or "town drunk", depending on how you perceive him), "Da Mayor" (Ossie Davis). We also get introduced to the trouble-making Buggin' It Out who is intent on boycotting Sal's Famous until they "put some brothas on the wall". Then, there's Radio Raheem, whose boombox blasts Public Enemy's "Fight The Power" loudly through out the movie. He doesn't speak much as the music seems to be his outlet of expression. It also happens to get him in a lot of trouble as the movie progresses. Lee's treatmant of certain characters in "Right Thing" is questionable at times. He seems to feel strongly that many of the white characters in this New York neighborhood would root for Boston sports teams because their top players are also white. At times, Danny Aiello's Sal seems sympathetic and kind while in the end, he is more or less portrayed as a "closet racist". This might be why some of us are so fast to make observations about the film's racial biases but I've never felt that "Do The Right Thing" has ever been about who is right and who is wrong. In the end, everyone loses out because rather than go about handling certain small problems by compromising, people choose to argue over who is "doing the right thing" and who isn't. In the end, people are hurt and killed, property is destroyed, and all that seems to remain is animosity. While I may argue with the way that Spike wrote certain characters, this is "his" movie. Would the ending situation have been any different if he had re-wrote them? Probably not. So many of its critics fail to see the big picture with "Do The Right Thing". It isn't about whether Sal was right or whether Mookie was right or Buggin' It Out. The original problem was so small, so minor, and each of the characters allowed it to balloon into a big one. Even the less important characters contributed to the problem by instigating it further. The only character who seemed to understand what was going on was Samuel L. Jackson's almost narrator-like radio DJ, Senor Love Daddy. He understands it, he sees the tension esculating, and he is telling everyone to relax but it's too late. "And that's the triple truth, Ruth".
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant, scorching movie
Review: Spike Lee takes us to a single block in Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year in his awesomely brilliant movie "Do The Right Thing". The movie opens on a sultry early morning; by the time it ends, on a sweltering midnight of the same day, the heat, and the movie, have built up unbearable tensions that explode in in a confrontation that engulfs the street and everyone in it. At the heart of the block and the movie is Sal's Famous Pizzeria, run by Sal and his two sons from Bensonhurst (also in Brooklyn but it might as well be on the other side of the planet), with its "Wall of Fame" covered with photographs of famous Italian-Americans, glaringly out of place and insultingly insensitive on this African-American street in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The movie presents us with an unforgettable set of characters, including Danny Aiello in a great performance as Sal, Spike Lee as Mookie, his delivery man, Rosie Perez as Mookie's long-suffering and neglected girlfriend, Giancarlo Esposito as Mookie's radical friend Buggin' Out, Bill Nunn as Radio Raheem with his suitcase-size boom box that eats up 20 D batteries at a clip, the nearly legendary husband-wife acting team of Ossie Davis and Ruby Lee as Da Mayor, the street bum, and Mother Sister, the neighborhood snoop (every neighborhood has to have one), Samuel L. Jackson as Senor Love Daddy, and Joie Lee, Spike Lee's real-life sister, who plays Mookie's sister Jade in the film. Among a host of minor characters, the best are the three men parked on the sidewalk, ML, played by Paul Benjamin, Coconut Sid, played by Frankie Faison, and Sweet Dick Willie, played by the late Robin Harris, who act as a kind of Greek chorus to the unfolding events. Much of the speaking parts of these three was ad-libbed on camera, and the actors seem to have had a ball with their characterizations (Buggin' Out: "You wanna boycott Sal's Famous Pizzeria?" Sweet Dick Willie, observing Buggin' Out's every-which-way haircut: "You oughta boycott that barber who f---ed up your head.") Always present, and intrusive, are a squad car with two white cops, who view the neighborhood inhabitants, and are viewed by them, with undisguised contempt. The street, and the environs, are so convincingly portrayed that the heat is palpable; we can almost feel their discomfort as we sympathize at their attempts to alleviate it. One of the most priceless scenes in the film is the loudmouthed "alien" who drives through the block in an open Cadillac convertible and dares the kids to get it wet (when he finally manages to pull over and open the door, Niagara Falls spills out). A demand by Buggin' Out that Sal put some photographs of blacks on the Wall of Fame, which Sal dismisses out of hand, sets the stage for the confrontation that will blow sky-high. Buggin' Out returns to the pizzeria just before closing time with Radio Raheem, boom box blasting away at full volume, and Sal, his last nerve shot, silences the noise with a baseball bat. The resulting free-for-all spills out into the street just as the police arrive; Radio Raheem is pulled off Sal, who he is choking silly, and killed by the police with an illegal choke-hold. The police speed off (one could say they fled the scene of their crime), leaving Sal and his sons alone to face the neighborhood's rage. The pizzeria is torched, the neighborhood riots, and the firetruck arrives with firehoses turned on the rioters instead of the pizzeria, in a scene reminiscent of Sheriff Bull Connor in 1960's Alabama. "Do The Right Thing" is one of the most searing commentaries on American race relations that has ever been put on film. It's provocative, it's insightful, it's profound, it's a masterpiece, and it's definitely Spike Lee's best movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Do the Right Thing and see this movie
Review: This movie is very confrontational, and not really a movie. It's a pissed off guys way of telling the world "HEY WE'RE ALL THE SAME YOU MORONS NOW LET'S STOP WITH THE RACIAL HATRED AND BIGATRY AND GET ALONE!" That's pretty much the message this movie sends. The ending will have you astonished. It's sad that we as people are biggots because of skin or nationality differences. So take this movie's advice and "Forget ABout It" okay! We're all the same! All equally created. No one person is better than the other. So see this film cuz it'll make you wanna kick the crud outta some KKK member or some Nazi punk. Not saying you should, cuz we need to understand each other, and love each other regardless if they have an opposing view. That is what this film comunicated to me, and I strongly recomend that every boy and girl should see this movie. Whether you're black, white, or an off color green, just see this important film.
Rating:
Summary: A classic !
Review: I first saw this movie in 1990. I have seen it a few more times since then, and today I am convinced that the movie stands the test of time.
The reason for its success is its apparent banality, everyday quality. It seems like nothing happens, a regular day in a black neighborhood. Some people work, some stay home, and some just hang out. Nothing special.
But a tension is built. Small things, almost unnoticable. Then suddenly, everything explodes, emotions burst out, and destruction follows. What Lee shows in the movie is the daily dynamics of countless neighborhood in the world, wherever the residents of the neighborhood feel frustrated, discriminated against, closed in. Nothing special indeed, regretfully.
Is Lee right ? Is he wrong ? By breaking the Pizza's window he probably saved Sal's life, but that is not the issue. Even the cop who killed Radio Raheem is shown not to have meant it. We cannot judge what has happenned without looking into politics - who controls the budget, the school system, the Media ? It is not Sal, nor Mookie, nor even the violent cop. They are mere puppets on strings, playing out the roles expected of them.
See the movie !!!
Rating: 
Summary: An Overrated Effort that was Almost Great
Review: This film had so much promise: the beautiful colors, the eventual all-star ensemble cast in great roles, the poignant topic, the up-and-coming director's early film, and so on. It looked like an intelligent French art film. The ending ruined it for me, however, and cheapened the whole experience. For a while, I got the feeling that Lee was making a film critical of his own community for creating many of their own problems, while not ignoring the external ones (as evident in John Tuturro's character and the NYPD), in a way a white director could never get away with these days. During those scenes, Lee also portrays simple, stereotypical images of Koreans, Puerto Ricans, and Italian-Americans. But it was all colorful and entertaining, leading us towards the climactic finale... What was Lee's message in this film? Ultimately, I got the feeling that he felt his character "did the right thing" by inciting a riot. If that is the case, then this film is utter trash. If not, he should have told us so in some manner, however obscure, before it ended. In either event, the film's ultimate failure at poignancy destroys all the beautiful art that came before. In the end, I felt much less empathy with the plight of the African American community than I did before. The only character that seemed to be vindicated by the events was the racist Italian son. Is that what Lee was aiming for? Result: A sad failure. If you want to see a good Spike Lee "joint", I recommend you watch Clockers, Malcolm X, or even Son of Sam. A final note, history has not been kind to this film. One scene shows graffiti saying "Tawana told the truth" (in fact, we now know she lied), and in another, Lee defends Jessie Jackson's honor (now seriously in question on numerous counts). That certainly doesn't help the cause of Lee's preachy tone, nor his apparent belief that Mookie "did the right thing".
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