Do the Right Thing | | Cast : | Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee | | Director : | Spike Lee | | Studio : | Criterion Collection | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | June 30, 1989 | | DVD Released Date : | February 20, 2001 | | Language : | English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 23, 2005 | | Summary | gimme my 2 fiddy, cause i gots to get paid | Content
 | This is one of my favorite films of all times. It doesn't get any better than this. The story is just flawless and briliant in its simplicity...the story of a hot summer day in Brooklyn. What I love about Spike Lee's earlier work is his singular focus on telling stories about the African American experience. This film and the accompanying supplementals make great teaching tools for high school or university film or cultural studies courses. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 12, 2005 | | Summary | A Portrait of a Masterpiece | Content
| In this film Spike Lee once again proves he is one of the top 5 directors/writers in cinema history. "Do the Right Thing" portrays many problems in the black community. The main one in this film is when a small ethinc group happens to control all busniess in a black community. Such as characters like Sal (Italian) the pizza store owner, and the Korean family who owned the convienent store. Since the 1940's you would have an all black community such as Harlem runned by ethnic groups such as Jews. In response to the Latino reviewer who labled Buggin' Out and Radio Raheem as violent, trouble-making instigators, that remark is from but one perspective. On one hand it was indeed Sal's business, and he could do whatever he wanted to do with it. But at the same time his business is in a black community. It is black people, rather Afro-Americans that keeps his business running. It is rather an embarresment to only see pictures of a different ethinc group in the place that you choose to dine in. In the end it shows all of the chaos that occured could have been evoided if he had hung but one picture of a black figure. And this review is coming from a young brotha. Overall this is a must see film. An absolute classic. Also check other great films that has to do with many issues in the black community such as: "Malcolm X", "School Daze", "Jungle Fever", "Boyz N Da Hood", and "Baby Boy". |
| Rating | | | Date | April 26, 2005 | | Summary | A wonderful movie with a message ... | Content
| Being not born and raised in America, I'm interested a lot in finding about the typical taboos like 'black neighborhood' (and recently, Jane Fonda :)) and I immensely enjoyed _Boys 'n the hood_. That was my intro to Spike Lee. _Do the right thing_ is definitely a worth watching experience. I've rarely seen such a grip on a story that's not a typical 'story'. Its the depiction of one really hot day from the life of 20+ black people living in NY City (Brooklyn) and of an Italian Pizzeria owner working there for 25 years along with his two sons. It shows the struggles of different people at different levels, shows the priorities of people, shows the aimlessness in some and determination in others, shows the hatred in some and love and tolerance in others ... By the end of the movie, one feels attached to several characters and it feels like we've known them for years. I've seldom seen such a well knitted presentation of ... practically nothing. A very descent cast of actors (Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, John Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson) that played the parts to near perfection. Spike Lee himself played the main part but I think if a legit actor like Denzel Washington or Cuba Gooding Junior was cast in that role, it would've put a lot more emotion and feelings in the lead character. Despite that, it's still a social tornado and a good lesson for the students of American culture.
Watch for the pretty extreme language and racial slurs. It's definitely not for young audience although the message it conveys is worth while to be taught to our kids ... tolerance and racial respect for others.
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| Rating | | | Date | April 20, 2005 | | Summary | Disappointed | Content
| I was looking forward to a powerfully moving, eye opening, genuine, and even shocking depiction of current race relations. Instead, the plot was unfocused, most of the acting was terrible, and Spike Lee's portrayal of racism was bogus.
This could have been a wonderful film with the following alterations:
1) Lee hired Cuba Gooding Jr. to play Mookie instead of himself. I felt Lee's character was emotionally detached from the story...
2) Instead of rationalizing the explosive climax with the intense heat, Lee should have worked in legitimate reasons for the violence. I don't care if the temperature was 150 degrees, these characters unrealistically overreacted to unimportant matters. Case in point, what moron would become as outraged as buggin' simply because a picture of a black person wasn't on the wall of an Italian Restaurant??
Spike Lee awkwardly pushed his characters towards a violent confrontation.
Nevertheless, I recommend this film because it is uniquely styllized, upbeat, vibrant, and entertaining. However, don't be fooled by Lee's cynical view of race in today's society. I know plenty of Asians, African Americans, and Italians, and none of them resemble the racist jerks Lee stereotyped them as. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 16, 2005 | | Summary | The greatest movie on race relations ever made! | Content
| Do the Right Thing is a classic. In my opinion, it's one of the greatest films on race relatons ever produced. Everyone living in the United States should watch this film, because its message is timeless.
Many people have blasted this movie as being anti-white. Why? Because a white man's pizza shop gets burned to the ground at the end of the film. What's interesting to note is the fact that the people who make such ridiculous claims fail to take into account that the looting and burning of the shop followed the murder of a black man by the NYPD, Sal's non-chalant concern about this, and the fact that Sal pretty much brought the destruction of the shop upon himself with his "so what" attitude after Radio Raheem is killed.
What I like about Do the Right Thing is it forces the viewer to show their true colors. What does the viewer attach more importance to - a white man's money, or a black man's life? The viewer's answer to this question will determine their attitude about this movie.
Far too many people watch this movie with the mentality that they are watching a football game. In other words, the white characters are the "hometown team" and the black and Puerto Rican characters are "the away team." By the end of the film, many viewers are down to cheering and rooting for "their team" to score a victory over "the other team," that the end up missing the bigger picture.
This film really makes a lot of viewers uncomfortable because Spike Lee does not present us with the typical liberal, multicultural baloney that we should just "all hold hands" and pretend to love one another. The reality has now set in that individual and institutional discrimination, along with prejudice, are so entrenched in American life that there is no easy way to undo this damage. The fact that this film pre-dated the L.A. riots by three years makes it all the more powerful.
Ultimately, Do the Right Thing is a reflection and observation of American life, not a fantasy about how things should be in an ideal world. Those who are anti-black, anti-Latino, racist, prejudiced, or otherwise living in a fantasy land or just plain unaware of the magnitude of racial animosity in this country will most certainly condemn Do the Right Thing. Anyone that actually takes the time to move beyond their personal prejudices and examine the subtleties and numerous conflicting and seemingly-contradictory messages of this film will realize its powerful scream for racial understanding and reconciliation.
Easily Spike's best film. Even Roger Ebert has listed Do the Right Thing as one of the 100 most influential movies of all-time. Strongly recommended. |
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