Do the Right Thing

Rating:
Summary: best movie by Spike Lee, maybe the best movie of the 80's.
Review: This movie capture the desire of black movie goers hungry for a good written and produced movie, gear toward putting a face in front of american's race problems and its misunderstanding of cultures.

Rating:
Summary: a controversal film that explores racism
Review: This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" is a groundbreaking film indeed. It takes place in Brooklyn NY on a hot summer day. The heat is causing people to be more irritable and when one thing leads to another, the situation explodes into a riot.

I thought that the film depicted Blacks in a very stereotypical manner. But since the director is black, I guess it would not be considered racist. The film had a well deserved R rating for a scene of sexual content, a scene of violence, and a lot of profanity.

The film only shows shat racism is alive and well in America and that it is unlikely to end soon. As a Christian, I feel that this is an important film to see and the negative effect racism has on society, but feel that they could have made the film a bit tamer as far as the nudity is concerned. The violence and use of the N-word, while disturbing to many, is necessary to demonstrate how bad the problem is and why racism must end.

The DVD is a double disc feature with many special features on it.

Disc one contains the film with optional audio commentary with Spike Lee, Ernest Dickerson, Wynn Thomas, and Joie Lee

Disc two contains, Theatrical trailers and TV spots, an excerpt from the Cannes film festival press conference. There is an hour long documentary on the making of the film with preproduction scenes including a script reading. There is a second making-of documentary, the music video for the movie's theme song "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy, storyboards for the riot scene, and an interview with editor Barry Brown. In addition to this, many of the features include a brief introduction by director Spike Lee.

This remains an important film that shows the negative effect of racism.

Rating:
Summary: "The left hand is hate. The right hand is love."
Review: This movie is largely an angry, outrageous film. But it is also a beautiful and enlightening one. DO THE RIGHT THING garnered Spike Lee, writer, director, and star of the film, both praise and criticism. But what you must remember, those who either praise it or look down upon it, is that DO THE RIGHT THING couldn't be further from the truth.

DO THE RIGHT THING was an introduction to Lee's brazen and bold style of filmmaking. He had a part in every aspect: direction, cast, production, writing the screenplay, etc. That's why, if someone is interested in seeing a "Spike Lee joint", I will definitely recommend DO THE RIGHT THING first and foremost.

It's a look at race relations in America circa 1989, a drastic glimpse in which the outsiders, meaning the audience, can feel as if they are right there in Harlem with Mookie (Spike Lee).

Mookie is an unmarried father, a boyfriend to Tina (Rosie Perez), loud and outspoken with her buxom figure. She pushes Mookie to spend more time with her and their son, complaining about him being a deadbeat dad. His excuse? Work.

True, much of Mookie's time is spent working at Sal's, a pizzeria in Harlem, run by white Italians in a neighborhood where the population appears to be around 99.5 percent black.

Other characters include Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), Da Mayor (Ossie Davis), Mother Sister (Ruby Dee), Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito) and Jade, Mookie's sister (Joie Lee). Radio Raheem's dialogue throughout the film it limited - he more or less expresses his freedom through his incessantly blaring radio. In fact, throughout the entire movie, Public Enemy's "FIGHT THE POWER" blasts throughout the neighborhood. Buggin' Out is irked with a situation at Sal's that he feels must immediately be taken care of. He just wants Sal to "put some brothas" up on his restaurant's walls, right beside pics of Frank Sinatra and Clark Gable. Sal (Danny Aiello) refuses to comply with Buggin' Out's request.

In the end, Radio Raheem and Buggin' Out fuel an argument that quickly evolves into a neighborhoodwide conflagration. Alas, Mookie fuels the fire by hurling a trashcan through the glass window of the pizzeria - his boss' pizzeria - and the brawl proceeds, with Sal and his sons standing on the sidelines.

DO THE RIGHT THING is an odd title for a film like this, some people may think. Is the right thing done? Does Lee believe that the characters in his film did the right thing? I'm not sure. The title can be interpreted in a number of ways, I suppose. First, I suspected it was irony. No, Mookie didn't do the right thing! He fueled the fire and instigated the riot to mammoth proportions! Property was destroyed and damaged! My second conclusion was merely that "doing the right thing" serves as an argument for the people, for people unwilling to make compromises or verbally come to an agreement through reasonable, mature conversation. In reality, the film isn't about who is right and who is wrong and why. You had people like Mookie, who seemed to act on impulse, and then you had Da Mayor, trying to calm the livid people down, trying to talk sense into their heads. People evidently followed Mookie's lead and in the process, they hurt and killed others, seriously damaged and neighborhood properties. Not only that, but mere misunderstanding and hate seems to exist between them, even after the riot ends. That's a sad thing, yet it's also a very true thing.

Lee's picture clarifies the fact that yes, misunderstanding between peoples does fuel hate, which, in turn, fuels even bigger and uglier physical problems. DO THE RIGHT THING was taboo for how it portrayed peoples of different races, yet for film's time, the state of Harlem and its residents was portrayed with frank and genuine realness that simply can't be denied. Certain characters, settings, and events rung clear and true. DO THE RIGHT THING is arguably one of the finest examples of race relations illustrated in film. You can watch and rewatch - and learn - from this tumultuous and dramatic "Spike Lee joint".

Rating:
Summary: That¿s the double-truth¿ Ruth
Review: In all likelihood Spike Lee's most important achievement - as director, writer and actor (though to my taste Mo' Better Blues is just as good a picture) and one of the strongest films you'll see about race relations, 'Do The Right Thing' looks dated at times, but it lost none of its impact and relevance. The movie takes place in a particularly hot day in a primarily African-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, and follows the various personalities who live there throughout the day; the center of the story is Sal's Famous Pizzeria - its owners, some of the few white people living in the neighborhood: Sal (Oscar nominated performance for Danny Aiello) and his two sons (John Torturro and Richard Edson), and Mookie (Spike Lee himself), the black delivery boy. What starts out as a light, entertaining movie with some amusing characters and light humor, gradually builds up tension to the point of being unbearable, up to the dramatic and tragic climax. Spike doesn't put as much emphasis on the characters themselves as he does on the relationships and the tension between them; and in this image of a very specific and small frame in time and place, makes a strong and important message about racism and race relations in general.

The film is populated with many different characters, all of them very memorable and each one a representative of a certain belief, mode of behavior or state of mind - on both sides of the conflict. From the uninhibited anger of Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito) and Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) on one side and Pino (John Torturro) on the other side, to Jade (Joie Lee, Spike's sister in the film and in real life) and Vito (Richard Edson), who are trying to connect and live at peace with the other side, to Da Mayor (Ossie Davis), in his isolated but peaceful state of mind, living in complete peace with the world around him, and Smiley (Roger Smith), living in his own isolated existence. Then there's Mookie, who is stuck in the middle, torn between his commitment and responsibilities to both sides. Finally we have Mister Senor Love Daddy - played gorgeously by the one and only Samuel L. Jackson, in one of his finest performances - half active character and half all-knowing narrator - who represents the voice of reason in the conflict, the reason which is bound, ultimately, to collapse. Each and every character plays an important part in the climatic and dramatic conflict to which the movie builds up, and though it's the radical ones - Buggin Out and Radio Raheem - who trigger the events that cause the tragedy, they are not necessarily the ones who finish it. It is Mookie and Sal, in fact, who ultimately play the main part.

Do The Right Thing is not an easy watch; it's a mesmerizing, tense, difficult film that breaks many taboos and slaughters many holy cows. But in the end of it - hopefully - you'll be wiser than you were in the beginning, and that's what Lee have always tried to achieve in all his films. Watch it to get a real view on racism that doesn't duck the difficult issues and isn't afraid to tackle the real problem, and to see a master director at work. It's one of the best films of its time.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent even-handed look at race relations in America
Review: Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing is an uncommonly intelligent film that attacks the issue of race relations by refusing to take sides and exposing the humanity that lies behind the broad brushstrokes of the term "race." The film builds racial tension to a breaking point, and when the violence escalates, we're left wondering why.

The film is set in a predominantly black neighborhood in Brooklyn, where Sal (Danny Aiello) and his sons (John Turturro and Richard Edson) run a pizzeria, which is Sal's pride and joy; all he wants to do is continue to feed the people of the neighborhood. Sal's delivery man is Mookie (Spike Lee), whose goal is to get paid and provide for his girlfriend Tina (Rosie Perez) and their son.

Mookie finds himself as the mediator between Sal and some of his clientele. On the hottest day of the year, when Mookie's friend Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito) starts to yell at Sal about not having any pictures of black men on his Wall of Fame, which consists exclusively of Italian-Americans, it is Mookie's reponsibility to get his friend out of there and calm the tension. But tensions continue to mount throughout the day when Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) comes into Sal's blasting Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" from his signature boombox. Sal is able to win the battle in the short term, but Radio Raheem and Buggin Out get together later in the day and organize a boycott of Sal's. When they bust into the pizzeria after closing, the situation comes to a head and boils over in violence.

Do the Right Thing is filled with a great variety of characters from the neighborhood. There is Ossie Davis as Da Mayor, who everyone assumes to be a worthless drunk, but who actually knows more than he lets on. Ruby Dee plays Mother Sister, the wise sage who just wants to see the neighborhood keep its sanity and calm. And Samuel L. Jackson plays a radio personality who provides neighborhood commentary.

What makes this film work so well is that it does not attempt to cast any side of the battle as good or bad. Both the blacks and whites in the movie exist in more of a grey area, where they are all doing what they feel is right, but of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone agrees. At the heart of the film is the struggle between sticking to your guns and standing up for what you've always believed in, or taking a closer look and deciding that maybe what you've always believed in may not be right.

http://moyer.privatjokr.com/

Rating:
Summary: Do The Right Thing
Review: I thought the movie was excellent in regards to racial problems. Spike Lee is a great director and I enjoy watching his movies. The only thing I didn't quite like was the radio man. That could of been a little different.

Rating:
Summary: The hottest day of the summer !
Review: The progressive transformation of this brilliant film from the multi comedy to the echoes of an announced tragedy occurs in a micro cosmos - a simple pizza delivery will be the stage to deal with the controversial theme of the deep - rooted racism . Strong and well definite characters here and there will appear and slowly the events will lead to anarchy , chaos and destruction .

No way out with this brutal drama . Watch it because somehow the time will forget to Driving Miss Daisy and elevate to highest places this fundamental work .

Monumental and tense script : Ossie Davis , Danny Aiello and Ossie Davis are simply superb .

And please , do not forget the clever homage to The Night of the Hunter in the hands of an essential character : Love-Hate .


Rating:
Summary: Spike Lee's best.
Review: After being less than enthused with Spike Lee films such as "The 25th Hour" and "He Got Game", I was a little hesitant about watching "Do the Right Thing". But after much encouragement, I decided to check it out...I was not disappointed. This movie single-handedly changed the way I view the man.

"Do The Right Thing" follows a day in the life of several colorful characters living in the hood during a heat wave. As you might have guessed, the cast is predominantly African American, but this film is different than all those other hood movies. Blacks are portrayed as being well-rounded and diverse instead of gun-toting drug users. The main character, Mookie, isn't perfect (he takes a shower and bangs his girlfriend when he's supposed to be delivering pizzas), but he's still probably one of the better role models I've seen in a hood movie.

Something that gets mentioned often about this movie is the brilliant cinematography. Visually, Do the Right Thing is full of vibrant colors, which help to effectivly give an image of a heat wave. Overall, Do The Right Thing succeeds on a variety of different levels. The way Spike Lee can jump from drama to adding comedic elements is quite refreshing, and I particularly liked how this film shows that people of all colors and races can discriminate. In my opinion, this is the greatest thing Spike Lee has ever done, and I really wish he'd continue making movies like this.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Well a lot of the movie is about racism but my favorite part was Radio Raheem giving the story of love and hate. How love is always battling hate all the time and here comes love and back comes hate and bang boom love comes back and KO's hate. Really made me think.

Like during the course of a day....when you go to work....you put a fence of hate around you and also lets say if youre an employer you hate on an employee to make them go. 'Do your job or youre fired'....its a heck of a motivator. On the other hand....I think its FAR more dangerous to love than to hate because if you love you make yourself more vulnerable and theres always the danger that could be used against you. But like radio raheem said....love always triumphs over hate.


Great movie, go pick it up, one of Spike Lees best.

Rating:
Summary: fight the powers that be.
Review: Do the Right Thing is a grandiose artistic masterpiece executed by a relevant auteur. This film is an examination of society, following citizens on a Brooklyn block on the hottest day of the year. Tensions of race and class are activated by the oppressive heat, giving way to hotheads exploding upon each other throughout the day, culminating in the aftermath of a tumultuous riot.

In this socially relevant film, Spike Lee balances art with realism to make a film both raw and heightened. Subject matter veers toward realism, with fully realized characters who manage to be very human. Characters harbor passions and prejudices they are willing to fight for, and have dreams that may never be realized. They endure the ramifications of their birth position and placements, choosing to complacently accept, justify positives of, or rebel against their state the best they can. These personalities, with their many flaws both positive and negative, provide for a examination of human emotion, society, and culture.

Cinematography by Ernest Dickerson creates a vivid and rich mood and environment. Predominance of warm colors emphasizes the heat of the weather and of the characters, providing for a heightened and visually stimulating composition. Editing is efficient and very often unique, while Public Enemy and a perfectly free jazz score fills the air. Actors churn out exceptional performances, and directing is Lee's high point.

This is a film daring to tackle modern issues in an honest manner, examining the occurrences of everyday life and hierarchies still inherent within society. Stereotypes emphasized and high temperatures cause explosions of conflicting opinions between residents forced to live with one another. Epiphanies and tragedies occur as the film nears its end, challenging all to form ethical ideologies, and to defend those opinions through violence, nonviolence, or a combination of the two.