96. Do the Right Thing (1989)

Running Time: 120 Minutes
Director: Spike Lee
Date Watched: 09/24/2010 Medium: DVD

Summary (from Amazon.com): "Spike Lee's incendiary look at race relations in America, circa 1989, is so colorful and exuberant for its first three-quarters that you can almost forget the terrible confrontation that the movie inexorably builds toward. Do the Right Thing is a joyful, tumultuous masterpiece--maybe the best film ever made about race in America, revealing racial prejudices and stereotypes in all their guises and demonstrating how a deadly riot can erupt out of a series of small misunderstandings. Set on one block in Bedford-Stuyvesant on the hottest day of the summer, the movie shows the whole spectrum of life in this neighborhood and then leaves it up to us to decide if, in the end, anybody actually does the "right thing.""

Molly: (0.5 out of 5 stars): "Ugh."

Nick (2.5 out of 5 stars): "It wasn't a fun film to watch but seemed to make some good points about how racial bigotry can display itself in different and pointless forms. The movie had a lot of rough language but it seemed relevant to the stereotypical culture it was trying to portray."

Random Movie Facts (from IMDb.com):

• Spike Lee originally wanted Robert De Niro for the role of Sal. But De Niro turned down the part, saying that it was too similar to many of the parts he had played in the past.
• The key scene when Danny Aiello and John Turturro talk alone approximately midway through the film was partly improvised. The scripted scene ended as the character Smiley approached the window. Everything after that until the end of the scene was completely ad-libbed.
• The scene in which Sal (Danny Aiello) and Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito) argue about there being no African-Americans on the wall of the restaurant - only "American Italians" - is somewhat ironic, as Giancarlo Esposito is an Italian-American.
• The story takes place at the intersection of Bedford and Stuyvesant Avenues. In reality, the two do not cross each other, however the film was shot in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn.