Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Not About Answers, but Questions
A lot of people criticize this movie because of its ending. To do so misses the point of the film. Do the Right Thing is one of the few films that deals with race honestly - it doesn't end with everyone hugging and happy singing Kumbaya. Instead it takes a realistic look at race relations in an inner city neighborhood that has faced white flight, and is now facing gentrification. It's a scenario playing out all over the country, and the tensions that arise in the film can probably be found in any American city today. The difference is, Lee is willing to face those challenges in the eye, instead of dancing around them like most of us do. A bit about the characters. Some have argued that they are caricatures, or simple, or racist, or unlikable. That is the point. Should somebody die because they are obnoxious? Should someone's life work be destroyed because of what they represent, instead of who they are? Yes, the characters may seem at first one dimensional, but look a bit closer. The issue isn't whether Mookie is lazy, or Sal's son is racist. The issue is how do people relate to each other, and when the lines are drawn, where do their loyalties ultimately lie. The fact that the ending is inconclusive, and forces people to think (a rare thing in films nowadays) shouldn't detract from the movie's rating. Even if you don't agree with the ending, or dislike the characters, this is a must see film.
Rating: - Lee did the right thing
In only his third film, Spike Lee created a classic that is both socially relevant and artistically accomplished. By focusing the actions at one location in one day, this film reminds us that race relation cannot be improved if we don't improve the way each one of us interacts with everyone else. The film's finale is notable for its echos of real events that occurred not long before the film was made, and its prescience of events to follow. It is an unforgettable movie scene that shows how intolerance can victimize everyone. Nevertheless, the apocalyptic vision of the final scene did not sit well with some critics. Is it a call to end violence or to start violence, they asked. In the film Lee seems to say there are no easy answers. Somewhat overlooked is the fact that the film also makes keen observations of lives of American black underclass, especially in the portrayals of the "cornermen". Their exchanges are as amusing as they are trenchant in commenting the state of affairs of lower-class blacks. And through them, Lee takes the uncompromising position that sometimes the underprivileged can also be victims of their own mentalities. Also, Lee subtlely shows the many faces of racial intolerance. While Sal's son Pino overtly hates blacks, and Buggin' Out is overtly intolerant of whites, but is the attitude of Sal himself really conducive towards racial harmony? Does he have a desire to get to know his neighbors, or does he simply want to "have no trouble with these people", as he puts it? By leaving this aspect ambiguous, Lee makes us think just what IS the right thing to do... Despite all the criticisms against him, I believe Lee tackled the difficult subject as intelligently as any director could have done. The Criterion DVD contains most of the supplements in the Criterion laserdisc released in 1995 -- audio commentaries, cast meetings and screen tests, 'Making Of' documentary. New supplements include Lee's press conference at the '89 Cannes festival, video interview with editor Barry Brown, "Fight the Power" music video, and a video segment showing the filmmakers re-visiting the Bed-Stuy neighborhood. The DVD's video quality is characterized by deep, rich, saturated colors which cinamatographer Ernst Dickerson so brilliantly captured in order to create a feeling of overwhelming heat (literally and figuratively). There is a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track (Prologic-decodable to surround), and a PCM stereo track that actually sounds brighter and crisper than the DD track.
Rating: - A Brilliant Movie From A Brilliant Director
The fact that Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing wasn't given Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director is still considered by movie buffs to be one of the biggest Oscar snubs of all time. This was the best movie of 1989, and ranks among the best that Spike Lee has ever directed.The story unfolds on one scorching summer day in Brooklyn, New York. It centers around Mookie (Spike Lee), a down-and-out pizza deliverer who works for Sal's Famous Pizzeria, owned by Sal (Danny Aiello) and his two sons. The neighborhood where the story unfolds is low-rent and crime-ridden, and the residents are mainly black. While his sons beg him to relocate the pizzeria to a nicer neighborhood, Sal doesn't mind the surroundings. In fact, he takes great pride in having run this restaurant for so many years, and that the people of this neighborhood were raised on his food. Tensions flair when a militant called Buggin Out notices that there isn't a single picture of a black celebrity on the "Wall of Fame" that Sal has put up in his restaurant. Buggin Out insists that Sal put up pictures of black people, considering that most of his customers are black. Sal maintains that the Wall is for Italian celebrities only, so Buggin Out decides to organize a boycott of the pizzeria. This idea of a boycott eventually escalates into a riot at the end of the day, burning down the restaurant. Though Sal is emotionally crushed by the destruction of his life's work, he is more hurt by the fact that Mookie helped in destroying the restaurant. Earlier on that same day, Sal had lovingly told Mookie that he thought of him as a son. This movie was extremely provocative when it first came out, and it still remains compelling today. It's about race wars and loyalty, and those who struggle to choose sides. I think this is the kind of movie that should be shown in classrooms and then discussed at length. It's extremely entertaining and also very educational. I have only the highest of recommendations for Do The Right Thing.
|
