Do the Right Thing (1989) Rated: R for violence and language. Runtime: 120 mins. Director: Spike Lee Writer: Spike Lee Cast: Danny Aiello; Ossie Davis; Ruby Dee...complete cast Genre: Drama/Comedy
Tagline: It's the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can... Memorable quote: "Trust you? The last time I trusted you, Mookie, I ended up with a son."
Reel commentary:..... If, by any chance, you are heading to the video store, be sure to see Do The Right Thing. It's one film not to be missed. .........full review
Awards and Nominations:
1990 Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Danny Aiello
1990 Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen - Spike Lee
1989 Cannes Film Festival: Nominated for Golden Palm - Spike Lee
1990 Golden Globes: Nominated for Best Director Motion Picture - Spike Lee
1990 Golden Globes: Nominated for Best Motion Picture - Drama
1990 Golden Globes: Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Danny Aiello
1990 Golden Globes: Nominated for Best Screenplay - Motion picture - Spike Lee
Director Spike Lee (Get On The Bus, Malcolm X) could not have summed up a more complete look into racial tensions then with his filmmaking masterpiece, Do The Right Thing. The film is based in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, where the line of racial division has been drawn in a community that is bent on keeping to their own.
Do The Right Thing presents a radical assortment of racially differing individuals. Tensions build when the racially sensitive Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito) tries to start a boycott against Sal’s Pizza for not having recognized black figures on his hall of fame wall. Things turn even more ugly from there when Buggin’ Out convinces Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) to make their presence known at Sal’s Pizza. Sal (an Oscar nominated Danny Aiello) asks them to turn their boom-box volume down and soon after, things turn really violent when Sal pulls out a baseball bat and destroys Radio Raheem's boom box.
The films emotional climb is so fast you can hardly keep up with the down right rage presented in this film. Mookie (Spike Lee) tries to play the role of peacekeeper throughout the entire ordeal, but as everything falls apart around him, the anger begins to set in. He becomes an active participant in the melee when he launches a trashcan through the restaurant window. This is the point at which all those things he worked so hard to accomplish came falling down. The neighborhood erupts into a fit of rage and literally destroys Sal’s Pizza in one evening.
Writer/Director Spike Lee's brilliant touch allows the audience to decide if Mookie is making all the right decisions in handling family, work, and his everyday life in general.
Do the Right Thing is a perfectly-crafted, disturbing, sad, yet thought-provoking look into a society that has never experienced any level of peace and tolerance.
In my mind, Do The Right Thing is the best film of the last 15 years. Because of its powerful message it was honored and became part of the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1999. Other cast members included: Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and John Turturro.
If, by any chance, you are heading to the video store, be sure to see Do The Right Thing. It's one film not to be missed. Dan Berman
Do the Right Thing (1989)
