Do The Right Thing (1989) The heat of the hottest day of the year strips a neighborhood in NYC of the thin layer of social order that allows everyone to get through the day. Without it, the anger and hatred just below the surface brings violence and destruction.
Directed by Spike Lee
Starring Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, John Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson, Rosie Perez
Why I Liked It – A masterpiece and parable for modern America. Brilliant.
After a couple of months of average to awful movies, Spike Lee delivers one of the best movies of the end of the 20th Century. This is a brilliant performance by the cast, led by Lee at the peak of his skill. Every scene, character, and shot is crisp and perfect. Visually, the movie runs along the razor’s edge of crystal-sharp realism and a fever dream. The final product is a movie that is familiar and uncomfortable, and true.
It is stunning.
Sal (Aiello) runs a family pizzeria in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood. He runs it his way, and at the top of his lungs. His two sons, Pino (Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson), have found their own ways to deal with the stresses of being a white-owned business in a black neighborhood. Pino barely controls his racism and contempt for everyone around him, while Vito tries to find a place in the neighborhood. Their delivery guy, Mookie (Lee), doesn’t much care what happens as long as he gets paid. Money defines him, even with his girlfriend Tina (Perez in her debut movie) and their son. Tension starts to rise when local activist “Buggin Out” (Esposito) demands to know why there are no Black celebrities on Sal’s wall of fame. With each passing minute, the tension ratchets up. Small confrontations blossom into a final explosion that will change the neighborhood. All of it could have been stopped in a dozen places if someone had stopped to listen, if someone had stopped to talk. All Sal and Buggin Out had to do was step back and turn the volume back from eleven to about five. Maybe shared a slice and talked about who could go up on the wall. Maybe it could be different.
The other part that grabs me about this is the incredible cast, and one brilliant performance after another. Samuel L. Jackson plays the local radio DJ, Mister Senor Love Daddy (how can you not love that name?), who is the conscience for the neighborhood, Ossie Davis is the “Da Mayor”, the perpetually tipsy neighborhood supervisor of all things and people. Watching over him is the judgmental “Mother Sister”, whom Da Mayor is always trying to woo. Davis and Dee were one of the brilliant married acting couples in Hollywood of the last century. They are always worth watching. There are three older men who sit in chairs on the sidewalk, commenting on the drama passing before their eyes. ML (Paul Benjamin), Coconut Sid (Frankie Faison), and Sweet Dick Willie (Robin Harris) ad-libbed all their scenes to fantastic success. Even Miguel Sandoval, in a much smaller role than I commonly see him, was fabulous as a cynical NYPD uniform cop.
After all the mediocrity I’ve watched recently, this movie was an arctic blast of everything a movie can be. And a warning for slippery slope we continue to play on even thirty-seven years later. All so brilliant. A modern classic.
You can stream “Do The Right Thing” on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Fandango At Home, and Google Play Movies.
Rating ***** Highest Recommendation
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