Rating: 
Summary: The Summer of 77
Review: This is a good joint. Although the main focus is the son of sam`s story and its murders, the plot relies more on the relationship between Vinny (John Leguizamo) and Ritchie (Adrien Brody), two friends from a Bronx neighborhood. Spike Lee brings us an entertaining and important movie that wisely explores the tension and tight atmosphere of a late 70`s NY, particularly in an italian-american community. The fear and suspition starts affecting the lives of the characters, making them question what/ who they know and who they really are, generating a "who can you trust" feel. It also shows the primary rejection of what is apparently different and the effects it ends up developing. Lee crosses the marginal appearence of punk-rock with the global dissemination of the disco sound, showing the culture-shock and providing an appropriate soundtrack. The direction is cutting-edge, full of bright colors and light effects as well as some videoclip-like moments. The pacing, however, is a bit uneven, so the movie can get a bit boring and slow at times. The acting is consistent and the characters are well-developed, giving some intense emotions and a couple of funny moments. All in all, this is an exciting cinematic experience that captures well the paranoid zeitgeist of an era, exploring new kinds of relationships, drugs, sex habits and music.
A worthwile flick and one of the best of 1999.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Watch This With Your Parents!
Review: Right off the bat, let's just say that this movie has lots of sex in it. Okay? Now, if you can be mature and remember that if it weren't for sex you wouldn't be here today, then I'm sure you'll be able to enjoy this movie. This was a pretty good movie, in my opinion. The acting was incredible, considering the story line. Mira and John were fabulous, and Jennifer Esposito's performance should (in a perfect world) turn her into the next big thing. The movie is NOT about the Son of Sam- it's about paranoia and the effects a killer has the society it lives in. Summer of Sam is a sort of introspective film that spends more time looking at the characters motivations and personalities than their actions- something I feel is missing from most movies today. And the music is awesome- all my favorite disco tracks! For someone who wasn't even alive in the "Summer of Sam", this movie gave me insight and an appreciation for suburban life. Why did I take two stars off? One- too much sex to watch with your parents. Two- Spike Lee should just STOP being in his own movies. He adds nothing, and takes away from the otherwise credible acting.
Rating:
Summary: The movie is called "SUMMER of Sam"... get that? "SUMMER"!
Review: This is not supposed to be ABOUT the Son of Sam, you morons. If it was, I think it would be titled "Son of Sam". Right, you morons? But no, it's called "Summer of Sam". You know why? Cuz it's about the SUMMER of SAM! The people that were affected by the killings. It all happened in the SUMMER... of Sam. Thank you. Freakin morons.
Rating:
Summary: SOME GOOD MOMENTS
Review: As he often does, Spike Lee made "Summer of Sam" as an ensemble with moments of brilliance, offset by moments of self-indulgent excess. The "Son of Sam" murders are graphically violent, but well-filmed (particularly in the case of the victim who tried in vain to shield herself with a book)...which would be an admirable achievement, if this were based on fiction and not fact. These are young people who really died, and it disturbs me that the cinematography and editing of their murders was more involving than the tragedy of their fates. That said, the performances of the ensemble cast are consistently excellent, with Adrien Brody a standout as the young man whose punk lifestyle makes him a suspect in the eyes of his friends. The "vigilante squad" subplot is interesting...although it's not spelled out explicitly, it seems clear to me that these guys are not so much interested in catching the killer as they are in using the murders as an excuse to harass anyone they don't like. A fascinating depiction of mob hysteria but not a movie you'd go out on a limb for. Recommended rental.
Rating:
Summary: Fady Ghaly's reviews
Review: This is by far Spike Lee's grimmest film yet, which departs from his predominantly African-American themes and depicts the Italian side of New York City. Now, while it was also his greatest, in my opinion that is to say, I think its abrasive and rigorous tone is something that may draw plenty of viewers back, for this isn't at all the sort of film you'd presume you'd walk out of the theaters from with a smile on your face; this is not at all a film for kids, for it is even quite graphical toward its sexuality. (One scene, in particular, shows Vinny and Dionna inside some sort of nightclub that is scattered with nude people as they, like animals, are having sex with others whom they don't even know.)
Summer of Sam is an intensely gritty and angry epic that takes you back to New York's infamous summer of 1977. Lee's aspiring film does more than re-create the events that unfolded throughout that certain period of time; in addition to being an entertaining time capsule with an effervescent seventies soundtrack that knows just how to set the mood (and ever so influential, for I could not even begin to speculate of just how many other films used such tunes), it also deals graphically with the concept of the mob mentality. The key characters, these number of despondent and allegedly "shady" people Lee created were not at all something he shied away from using as being stereotypes. Instead, he uses them to shatter conventional perceptions of racial and ethnic characteristics to show the beauty and deterioration of human nature.
The character that stood as being most appealing to me would have to be Ritchie (Adrien Brody), a local kid who has enigmatically progressed a look of a punk-rocker and a British accent, which later, as Son of Sam's plague of terror had a great impact among the citizens of New York, perplexed everyone, for they assumed he was that mass murderer merely by his cultural background and rap that apparently offended many. Lee's greatest films thrum with a wound-up vitality, and Summer of Sam resonates with lewdness, remorse, and fear. It does not regard the murderer, as many would assume that it does, but rather his victims, not those he slayed, but those whose overstimulated resourcefulness bloomed into a lynch mob mentality. There is a portion near the conclusion of the film that displays a side of human nature that is as loathsome as it is common: the fever to find someone to blame and the need to blame someone who is different-Ritchie being one who is different, which represents him as a misfit to the rest of the crowd who dance to the beats of disco music and wear flashy cloth. The film also takes large detours into Vinny's sexual life, played by John Leguizamo, who vividly captures the apprehension his character undergoes as he strives to be lawful to the alleged "woman of his dreams". But it seems that the more he strives to be faithful to her, the more women he ends up sleeping with, and yet each time his appetite indulges these long-legged, big-breasted women who almost seem to supplicate for his "sexual skills", the more malevolence he has upon himself for being the man that he is, which proves true as he actually begins to assume that God himself is working against him, until ultimately such a deceitful lifestyle has great affect and it's all downhill from there, as it sadly was for everyone else. Leguizamo's performance was in my opinion the finest since Al Pacino's in The Godfather III, but unfortunately it remains as my opinion, for I think all the heart and soul he put into this project was completely disregarded. True-his presence in the film claimed him to fame, but that was merely his presence, for his performance wasn't allegedly worthy of an award, which I think is a belief of pure ignorance. Fair is a word the academy obviously doesn't go by, for it seems that they seek of those who are the most flamboyant. "I see the new Latin artist as a pioneer, opening up doors for others to follow," says Leguizamo. "And when they don't open, we crowbar our way in. We are taking our culture and suturing it to America. Like gum on the bottom of a shoe, we are not going to disappear. Unlike other people who totally assimilated, we are more interested in co-assimilation...America may not realize it yet, but Latin prototypes are being created right now, and not just by me. They are these mambo kings and salsa queens, Aztec lords and Inca princesses, every Hernandez and Fernandez, whom this country will one day come to understand and respect." Now, all I'd have to say to that is...well, I'm with you all the way.
Rating: 
Summary: Best film of 1999
Review: Spike Lee is amazing. This is my favorite joint, by far. In it he departs from his primarily African American subjects and depicts the Italian side of New York. He has such intense feelings for his city...and for the unique characters it produces. He doesn't shy away from using stereotypes. Instead, he uses them to shatter conventional perceptions of racial and ethnic characteristics to show the beauty--and degradation--of human nature. His cast in this movie is outstanding, especially Brody and Sorvino. Just a bit of caution: the film is intensely graphic in its depictions of violence and sex. However, that is part of the art of expressing what was happening during the sultry Summer of Sam.
Rating:
Summary: Ignore the Cretin Critics
Review: One merely has to read the anonymous "viewer from the USA" to see the intellectual discrepancies between those that loved and those that hated this film. The viewer thinks Boyz N the Hood was a good Spike Lee film? Hmm. Maybe someone should tell that to John Singleton, the man who actually directed that movie. It is the same narrow-mindedness that causes someone to think any controversial picture about African-Americans must have been made by the notorious Spike Lee that causes them to overlook the majesty of this film. They are the ones that still label Malcolm X a rascist...they're the ones who still don't get it. So, it stands to reason that they don't understand SUMMER OF SAM, either. Certainly, Lee chooses to depict "real" people coping with the surreal conditions of New York in 1977. Those depictions factually project all of the degradation and perversion that exist within human nature...regardless of race. Lee's almost satirical use of stereotypical Italian-Americans illustrates this. The transcendence ofBrody's character above and beyond those stereotypes perpetuated by his neighbors typifies the ability of any human being to transcend institutionalized castes. The way that we as a society mark the "deviant other" and ostracize them is one of our most tragic failings. By showing that, Lee is exposing the true filth of human nature. The intensely graphic sex and violence are merely tools used to communicate aspects of that filth. Ironically, Lee also uses intimate relationships to portray the subtle beauties of love. As the characters played by Brody and Esposito come closer together, and truly fall in love, they do so as best they can while being confronted by environmental handicaps like poverty, sexism, and social oppression. Their lifestyle may be considered "pornographic," but their love and devotion to one another is certainly something else. I doubt anyone will read this because it's so long...but if you've gotten this far, you owe it to yourself to see SUMMER OF SAM.
Rating:
Summary: Fair Effort on Spike's Part
Review: I respect Spike Lee though I sometimes find his movies confusing and misguided, then again that's just his way. Summer of Sam is full of Spike's usual wit and charm brought to the surface by some colorful and very talented actors. John Leguizamo proves his range from comedy to drama in the role of Vinnie, a coke-sniffing womanizer who's married to ( Dionna )Mira Sorvino. I felt Mira wasn't needed. She just didn't have enough to do and her role wasn't sufficient. Dionna and Vinnie have no chemistry. You never really found out what Vinnie's sex-on-the side life had to do with the movie...I'm realizing nothing. Adrian Brody was wonderful as always. There were a lot of good supporting actors but somehow the script fell short. After the first thirty minutes of the film the movie turned into another " Crooklyn " or " School Daze " showing the old Spike Lee flavor. There is nothing wrong with the old flavor but with such A-list actors and such an intense story to follow up on, Summer of Sam falls short. It's full of exciting scenes but these are the same scenes that are not needed. The story drifted off the subject too often it lost its impact. I didn't appreciate the baffling camera movements, they only took away from the story. And by the way...was Spike Lee trying to prove how many times he could use the F word? If so I think Summer of Sam wins hands down with the most usage. I would recommend this as something to see once because it's a different film experience. I can't say I was impressed or disappointed. I was just very...confused.
Rating:
Summary: Superb movie all around
Review: This brilliant movie uses the Son of Sam murders as a backdrop to a riveting tale about the lives of ordinary people struggling to get by when an entire city is held hostage by terror. John Leguizamo is amazing in the lead role, adroitly capturing all facets of his character. The audience is forced to love and hate the character, pity and admonish him. He's a good person who makes stupid choices and gets in way over his head. Sounds like the perfect everyman to me! Adrien Brody is likewise magnificent. His character's tortured intellect is both striking and foolish; a difficult dichotomy to carry off so well. I watched this primarily to see Anthony LaPaglia, but unfortunately, he's not in it that much. His brief scenes are good, though. Overall, I think this is one of the best movies I've ever seen. This is the first time I've given any Amazon review five stars. I'm very stingy with that fifth star, but this film deserves it.
Rating:
Summary: SOME GOOD MOMENTS
Review: As he often does, Spike Lee made "Summer of Sam" as an ensemble with moments of brilliance, offset by moments of self-indulgent excess. The "Son of Sam" murders are graphically violent, but well-filmed (particularly in the case of the victim who tried in vain to shield herself with a book)...which would be an admirable achievement, if this were based on fiction and not fact. These are young people who really died, and it disturbs me that the cinematography and editing of their murders was more involving than the tragedy of their fates. That said, the performances of the ensemble cast are consistently excellent, with Adrien Brody a standout as the young man whose punk lifestyle makes him a suspect in the eyes of his friends. The "vigilante squad" subplot is interesting...although it's not spelled out explicitly, it seems clear to me that these guys are not so much interested in catching the killer as they are in using the murders as an excuse to harass anyone they don't like. A fascinating depiction of mob hysteria but not a movie you'd go out on a limb for. Recommended rental.
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