Danny Aiello
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That's the double-truth, Ruth
Author: itamarscomix from Israel
24 May 2005
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.
Author: mstomaso from Vulcan
28 February 2008
90% of Spike Lee's masterpiece Do the Right Thing is a perfectly developed character study of a wide range of model personalities who all happen to be in Bedford-Stuyvesant on the hottest day of the summer. What the other ten percent consists of you will have to discover for yourself.This ingenious film explores extremes, but never gives itself over to stereotypes as its plot cleverly navigates through the politics of inner city life and the struggles of American racism. As an artful and intelligent examination of the ethics of violence and prejudice, Do the Right Thing is unparalleled.
It implies a simple profound question - what is the 'right thing'? But steadfastly refuses to supply even a hint of an answer - appropriately leaving its central point entirely up to its audience. Instead, the film points to a different, perhaps more important question "Whose version of right is right for you?" There are a lot of good people, a lot of bad people, and a very realistic majority of people who are usually somewhere in the middle but also somewhat confused throughout this film. African American, Latino, East Asian and Italian American cultures form the dynamics of the relationships that drive the story, and conflict is their medium.
Drawing from two incisive but different comments on violence from Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, Lee extrapolates his story and the ideas he wants to explore by showing us characters that are as real as they are exaggerated and somewhat unpredictable events that they create, are swept into or actively or passively participate in. Although the point of the film is not really critique, nobody is left unscathed.I am not going to tell you what the film says - I can't, because it is, more than most films dealing in such a direct manner with the subject of race, open to interpretation. And what you bring to it will influence, but not determine what you take away from it.
It is just that powerful.Instead, I will simply give Do the Right Thing my highest recommendation.Superbly written, edited, directed and filmed. Well acted (Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosie Perez, Spike Lee and Richard Edson really stood out for me) and very nicely soundscaped, Do the Right Thing is the perfect film for a solitary night of reflection or for sharing with an intelligent group of friends. However, be forewarned, the film hits hard, and will disturb some people a great deal - especially those who feel a need for closure and resolution.
"Do the Right Thing" is a powerful, uplifting, visually stunning masterpiece. It's a movie that I can watch over and over again, and deservedly takes the Number 7 Spot of My Favorite Movies Of All Time. This was one of Spike's debut efforts, and until this day--the best one. Spike gives us an honest, unflinching look at the Bedford-Stuyvestant area of Brooklyn on the hottest day of the summer. He perfectly displays the racial tensions that go on between everybody from blacks to whites to Koreans.
Yet he never gets preachy, which is one of the brilliant things about this movie. Some of Spike's best work is demonstrated in his shots of Radio Raheem, played excellently by Bill Nunn. RR doesn't say much, but he has this violent gaze which sums up his feelings without a word being said. Spike gives us some great angles of his face, demonstrating the pure rage brewing inside of him. He also has a great scene in which he sums up the meanings of love and hate, in Spike's trademark poetry-in-motion style. RR constantly carries around a boombox, playing the same song "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy.
That song is one of the best musical themes in movie history, perfectly summing up racial tension among inner cities. This movie doesn't tell its audience that black people are better than others, nor does it say that Hispanics are, or whites, or Asians. It just gives us a raw look at what happens when we let racial quarrels get out of hand. We learn how sometimes it's appropriate to preach against racism, and sometimes we're just overreacting.
The cast is terrific, and they deliver memorable performances. I really wish Danny Aiello picked up the Oscar for his role as Sal, because that is definitely the pinnacle performance of his career and one of the best I've ever seen. Other noteworthy performances are by John Turturro, Ossie Davis and Giancarlo Esposito.
The film is put together with such fast-paced editing that it doesn't once get boring, doesn't have any low points. This is a gritty, memorable film that I wish can be considered more prominent in the eyes of the average moviegoer, because it really deserves great recognition for its unique, unforgettable style.
Spike definitely knows how to do the right thing.
My score: 10 (out of 10)
Author: diffusionx from New Jersey, USA
6 April 2001
I have heard people describe Spike Lee as a second-rate filmmaker; all I have to say is that second-rate filmmakers do not make films like this. Do the Right Thing is a masterpiece in both style and substance, and Im hard pressed to think of a more powerful, earth-shattering film.
But first, let's talk about the style. The color palette of the movie is wonderful; while its mostly deep reds, they manage to bring home the feeling that the residents of Bed-Stuy must have been feeling on that day. The cinematography is excellent... it features a lot of weird viewpoints and angles, but they are used to great effect and manage to work within the style of the film. One thing that really managed to impress me about the film is the razor sharp dialogue... each character has their own style of talking, and it really works well. This is a masterfully written film.
Now the substance... this movie manages to spiral into a truly spectacular ending. Throughout, its easy to see the necessary elements building, and, when it happens, it hardly seems like a surprise, but that doesn't make it any less shattering. The way that each character acts defines this movie throughout, especially at the end! Spike Lee does a brilliant job here. The movie is interesting and well-made throughout; each of the characters are three-dimensional and feel like real human beings - their motivation is understood throughout.
Do the Right Thing is a brilliant movie that never lags and never lets up. It manages to be vastly entertaining and vastly powerful at the same time. It's truly an amazing achievement in film, and its a shame it was not recognized more for its obvious brilliance when it was released in 1989.
Author: zetes from Saint Paul, MN
5 December 2001
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Do the Right Thing begins with girls dancing over the opening credits, and the dance is sure to make you laugh. It's extraordinarily dated, having been copied in a billion rap videos and even The Cosby Show, and, today, it seems very silly. As the film progresses, you're likely to notice dozens of other instances of severe dating that might make you giggle. Heck, if you didn't know that he was in it already, you're sure to laugh a little when you see that Martin Lawrence is in the film. Why did this dating happen? Well, simply because the film was so influential that other artists co-opted pieces of it all over the place. This would destroy a regular movie. Fortunately, Do the Right Thing is no ordinary movie.
This truly is one of the best films ever made. It's a masterpiece by one of the most talented and, unfortunately, most maligned directors alive. Spike Lee does not have the answers to the questions he poses, and sometimes I do object to the way he handles the situation. Sometimes I do ask the questions, when I am watching one of his films, "why does he have to be so angry about everything? Why doesn't he try to think these things out?" But I have great empathy for all emotions, and Lee is great at expressing his feelings on film. When I watch his films, I sympathize with what is happening.
Do the Right Thing is pitched at a feverish pace, and it's filled with enormous joy and, simultaneously, with enormous anger. This ambiguous mood is expressed most directly by the character Radio Rahim in a scene adapted from the great film Night of the Hunter, where Radio recites Robert Mitchum's "The Battle Between Love and Hate" speech. Immediately in the film we see that the races are capable of getting along. One black man is angry that Sal, who owns the local pizzeria, only hangs up pictures of Italian Americans on his wall, but no African Americans. Other African Americans find his objection somewhat ridiculous and respect Sal very much.
Some African Americans object to a Korean couple who have successfully opened a grocery store on a certain corner, but others believe they are just savvy businessmen. On the other hand, there is a great amount of tension between the same races. Sal is basically a good man, but he has grown very hard and his temper is short. Radio Rahim walks in and, yes, rudely leaves his radio blasting while he tries to buy some pizza. However, did Sal really have to swear and order him to turn the radio off? Couldn't he, as Radio wonders later on, have at least said please?
Lee's feelings about the entire situation are clearly ambiguous. The entire film is felt deeply, and there is never any intellectualizing in the script. It is vitally important that Lee casts himself as Mookie, a young, shiftless man who works as a deliveryman for Sal. It is Mookie who has the choice of whether to do the right thing or not. Perhaps some will be less forgiving about the film's late 1980s trappings. Even if they find it silly or unwatchable, I will guarantee that in 30 years, when the 1980s and even 1990s are far behind us, Do the Right Thing will be considered one of America's greatest films, as it more than deserves to be right now, in 2001. 10/10.
Spike Lee's DO THE RIGHT THING is one of the most vibrant, upbeat tragedies of the American cinema. Set in a small neighborhood in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvescant region, it's the story of the various people that inhabit the block as they try to live and work under a palpable air of racial tension, culminating in a tragic and thought-provoking climax that is still widely debated. Mookie (Spike Lee) is ostensibly the main character in a rich ensemble cast. He's a pizza delivery boy for Sal's Famous Pizzeria, a local institution run by the good-hearted Sal (Danny Aiello) and his two sons, the racist Pino (John Turturro) and the quiet and sweet-natured Vito (Richard Edson).
Also living on the block is the drunken sage Da Mayor (Ossie Davis), the all-seeing Mother Sister (Ruby Dee), the local DJ Senor Love Daddy (Samuel L. Jackson), Mookie's sister Jade (Joie Lee) and his girlfriend Tina (Rosie Perez). These characters are brought vividly to life by an amazing cast, and the entire film is filled with loud, boisterous dialogue and music, and the neighborhood itself is presented in bright, ostentatious neon colors. All of these work to both offset and accentuate the senseless tragedy that the day's end will bring.
It's a record heat wave day, and trouble starts to brew when Mookie's hot-headed friend Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito) angrily notices that the Wall of Fame in Sal's is decorated only with pictures of successful Italian Americans, and no black people. Buggin' tries to get the neighborhood to boycott Sal's, but most refuse, because Sal's has been in the neighborhood for 25 years and many of the inhabitants grew up on his pizza. Buggin' finally gets the hulking Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) to join his cause, because Sal treated him rudely earlier when Radio refused to turn down the boombox he blasts twenty-four-seven.
Words are exchanged, the boombox is smashed, and a riot ensues. Radio is killed by the police, and Mookie throws a trash can through the window of the pizzeria, which is eventually burned to the ground. The biggest question most viewers will be left with is why. Why would Mookie throw the trashcan, after Sal just said that he considered Mookie to be like a son to him? Was it because of Sal's affection for Jade? Was it the death of Radio Raheem? Was it because he truly believed that Sal was wrong in his actions and that the place needed to be destroyed?
Or is it simply because Mookie is drifting through his life, and suddenly sees the opportunity to do something important? Why couldn't Buggin' Out have behaved less antagonistically about the pictures? Why couldn't Sal, whose clientèle is almost completely black, just have put some pictures of black people up? Lee offers no answers to any of these questions, because answering these would be deciphering human nature. The film is about ignorance in every community, and how people are too proud or too stubborn to speak out there differences and come to rational conclusions.
The destruction of Sal's didn't bring Radio Raheem back to life. It didn't even make anyone feel better about the loss. But it was done in the heat of anger and it can't be taken back. The biggest tragedy for the viewer is that we all know what could have been done to prevent everything, but we also know that given the same opportunities over again, no one would have behaved differently.
The bottom line on afflictions and agitated dirges of emphatic disagreement are all due to one culprit... Everybody's life is total abject misery!! The array of cultural stereotypes in this movie did anything but galvanize, they became down and outright isolated!! Fruition with accomplishments manifested itself in a very dismal way in this film, and the perpetual imagery of oppressive heat in this outdated New York City neighborhood was dreadfully ubiquitous!!
Beligerance with the African American culture was irksome to the old Italian culture because it was very non-comprehensible!! The lives of all of these sub middle class New Yorkers was one where their careless actions manifested their acts of precarious amelioration!! Every dilemma was attributed to money, or more significantly, everybody's lack of it!! New York City has always garnered a featherbed of assimilation into it's cosmopolitan dynamic. The movie "Do the Right Thing" depicts the ramifications of such a fate!! This film has tremendous acting performances by a number of actors and actresses, and Spike Lee's involvement in this movie is sensational!!
This website has ranked this film one of the top 250 best film ever in the history of American movie making... This is totally understandable, as I have rarely seen a movie which intensifies it's emotions so graphically that you have a thorough conception of what each and everyone of the main characters in this film is going through!! I recommend seeing this film, so many qualities to it are utterly first rate!!
I saw this film, and have since purchased it and seen it several more times, and I have come to the consensus that this is the greatest Spike Lee movie ever made and one of the greatest films ever made . . .
ever. The story revolves around racial tension which has existed forever, but more specifically tension which has risen to new heights on one of the hottest day of the year in Brooklyn. This movie, rather this masterpiece is an extraordinary and brilliant depiction of racism, the aspects of racism, the characters involved in that racism, and the profound and fateful impact it has on life.
The acting is believable, as are the characters, and Spike Lee's vision behind the camera is once again reaffirmed as genius. And all though this film may cause some viewers to cringe and disbelieve at the actions and reactions of the characters and the story, I did not. I thank Mr. Lee for not sugarcoating and censoring this explosive and all-too-real tale. If you get a chance to see this film, Do the Right Thing and see it.
Author: dbo920 from Athens, Georgia
1 November 2005
I watched this movie in my cultural geography class. We were discussing the concept of Race and how it has been conceived as a biological description for such a long time. In reality it is a cultural discourse that has been molded through history. The film really helped illustrate Race and Racism. Spike Lee's use of unstated stereotypes constructs particular kinds of racial landscape which in turn inform the kinds of interactions different characters have throughout the movie. Excellent film. I recommend this film to anyone interested in how race and racism works in the world. It brings an uneasy humor which allows a diverse group of people (such as my class) to laugh together but at the same time share and contrast physical emotions.
Author: Desertman84 from United States
22 May 2014
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Do The Right Thing is a comedy/drama film produced,written and directed by Spike Lee,who also led the cast by playing the role of Mookie. This story is about racial tension and violence that occurs in a neighborhood.Other members of the cast includes Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson together with Martin Lawrence and Rosie Perez,both of whom are in their first film.
There are three businesses that dominate the neighborhood block that mainly consists of African-Americans namely:a radio station,owned by an African-American disc jockey;a convenience store owned by a Korean couple; and Sal's Famous Pizzeria, the only white-operated business in the neighborhood. Sal serves pizzas to his two sons.Sal's ambassador to the community is a likable local young guy named Mookie, a pizza delivery guy who spreads news and gossip in the local community.
When an African-American customer notes that Sal's "Wall of Fame," a photo gallery of famous Italian-Americans, does not include anyone from his ethnic background, he eventually demands a neighborhood boycott.When tensions are already running high among the people of the neighborhood,it results to death and violence in the end. Also,we meet different characters from different races such as Da Mayor, a kind of every man who knows everybody; Buggin Out, a vocal militant; Radio Raheem, whose boom box defines his life and provides a musical cocoon to insulate him from the world; Mother Sister, who is sort of the neighborhood witch;a local disk jockey, whose program provides a running commentary, and a retarded street person who wanders around selling photos of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
The film provided a accurate and realistic view of the race relations at the time of its release.It captures the sense of black pride that is caught in both essentialism and commercialism as shown by trash-talking racism, distrust, and males' insistence on respect.Additionally,it also provides the viewer an understanding of the problems behind racial tensions from both Caucasians and African-Americans as well as their fears and frustrations.Overall,it was a solid,entertaining and very well-made film and well-acted by an ensemble cast.Danny Aiello provides a great performance as Sal. While Spike Lee's writing and direction are masterful throughout the movie.It was definitely the best film he has made to date.
