- Home
- Cinemascope News:
- This Week's Reviews:
- Cinemascope Five:
- Contact Cinemascope
Submitted by cinemascope on Fri, 2006-06-23 13:53. :: Classic
Movie title:
Do the Right Thing
Starring:
Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, John Turturro, Rosie Perez, Ossie Davis
Directed by:
Spike Lee
Written by:
Spike Lee
Genre:
Drama/Comedy
Year:
1989
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Runtime:
2 hours
Imdb:
Rating:
Synopsis
It's the hottest day of the summer in a predominantly black area of Brooklyn, and racial tensions are rising between the black locals, the Italians who run the pizzeria, and the Koreans who own the convenience store. Pizza delivery guy Mookie is at the centre of the evolving events.
It's the hottest day of the summer in a predominantly black area of Brooklyn, and racial tensions are rising between the black locals, the Italians who run the pizzeria, and the Koreans who own the convenience store. Pizza delivery guy Mookie is at the centre of the evolving events.
Review
Spike Lee was outraged when his movie was beaten to the Palme D’Or at Cannes by the Coen Brothers’ Barton Fink, and blamed the provocative nature of his work for the decision. Whether he was right or wrong (Barton Fink is a fine film, after all), Do the Right Thing is definitely provocative, and undoubtedly worthy of critical praise. Cinematographer Ernest Dickerson’s wonderful use of colour and light make this movie sizzle with the heat rising off the NYC streets, while Lee’s brilliantly constructed script moves smoothly from scene to scene, managing to touch on so many relationships and situations, while always lending all his characters depth and warmth. In fact, the film’s greatest achievement is its balance – your empathy as a viewer is switched from Sal the committed but volatile pizzeria owner to Buggin’ Out the young African-American in search of a cause to champion, to the Korean store-owners, hard-working but lacking the communication skills to engage with their customers. Only Turturro’s mean-spirited racist Pino comes across as unsympathetic, but he’s such a fine actor that while you may not agree with what he’s saying, he brilliantly conveys where his rage is coming from. At the centre of it all is the aimless Mookie (a career-best performance from Lee), lazy, unable to commit to his whining girlfriend or to take his job seriously, but who nevertheless provides the emotional heart and the political conscience of the drama. Unlike last year’s asinine and simplistic Oscar-winner, Crash, Do the Right Thing asks the most powerful questions, but rather than offer trite answers, leaves the question ‘What are you going to do about it?’ dangling in the air. Excellent.
Spike Lee was outraged when his movie was beaten to the Palme D’Or at Cannes by the Coen Brothers’ Barton Fink, and blamed the provocative nature of his work for the decision. Whether he was right or wrong (Barton Fink is a fine film, after all), Do the Right Thing is definitely provocative, and undoubtedly worthy of critical praise. Cinematographer Ernest Dickerson’s wonderful use of colour and light make this movie sizzle with the heat rising off the NYC streets, while Lee’s brilliantly constructed script moves smoothly from scene to scene, managing to touch on so many relationships and situations, while always lending all his characters depth and warmth. In fact, the film’s greatest achievement is its balance – your empathy as a viewer is switched from Sal the committed but volatile pizzeria owner to Buggin’ Out the young African-American in search of a cause to champion, to the Korean store-owners, hard-working but lacking the communication skills to engage with their customers. Only Turturro’s mean-spirited racist Pino comes across as unsympathetic, but he’s such a fine actor that while you may not agree with what he’s saying, he brilliantly conveys where his rage is coming from. At the centre of it all is the aimless Mookie (a career-best performance from Lee), lazy, unable to commit to his whining girlfriend or to take his job seriously, but who nevertheless provides the emotional heart and the political conscience of the drama. Unlike last year’s asinine and simplistic Oscar-winner, Crash, Do the Right Thing asks the most powerful questions, but rather than offer trite answers, leaves the question ‘What are you going to do about it?’ dangling in the air. Excellent.
