Movie Title: Do The Right Thing
First Watch / Repeat Viewing
Running Time: 2 hr.
Rated: R
Who did I watch with?: Stephie
Where did I watch it?: Home
Review:
Do the Right Thing is an early Spike Lee joint set in Brooklyn, New York during a summer heat wave. It features a very talented group of actors including Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Lawrence, John Turturro, and other character actors in prominent roles. All of the actors have their own racial animus best demonstrated by some extreme ranting in the middle of the movie where the characters break the fourth wall to vent their frustrations followed by a poignant conversation about love and hate with one of the movie’s minor characters. It is a movie largely about anger in the face of failure and the antagonism of heat (and race) in the city. On the other hand it is also a movie about looking out for your neighbors and the sense of community that develops from being in close contact with each other.
This culminates in several dramatic moments, building to a moment of extreme violence that could have been torn out of the headlines of 1989 or today for that matter. It is a movie that is still socially relevant and important today.
Verdict:
It is an entertaining and socially important movie almost thirty years later. See it.
Pop Chart Lab: Seventh Scratch
Do The Right Thing, Platoon, and Back to the Future scratched today!
Tomorrow’s Movie: Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
