Do the Right Thing (1989)
Genre:
Comedy / Crime / Drama (more)
Tagline: It's the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can...
Plot Outline: On a hot day on a New York City street, everyone's hate and bigotry smoulders and builds until it explodes into violence. (more) (view trailer)
User Comments:
Spike Lee's best work! A mind-blowing masterpiece of cinema! @
(more)
User Rating:
 
7.7/10 (11,518 votes)
Runtime:
120 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
Dolby
Certification:
Iceland:12 / New Zealand:M / Argentina:16 / Australia:MA / Canada:13+ (Quebec) / Canada:18A / Chile:18 / Finland:K-16 / Norway:11 (cinema release) / Norway:15 / South Korea:18 / Sweden:15 / UK:18 / USA:R / West Germany:12 / Singapore:M18
Trivia:
The opening line is "Wake up," while the closing line in Spike Lee's previous film, School Daze, was also "Wake up."
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Goofs:
Continuity: Mother Sister's bouquet of flowers.
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Quotes:
Mother Sister:
Hey, you old drunk, what did I tell you about drinking in front of my stoop? Move on, you're blocking my view. You are ugly enough, don't stare at me, the Evil Eye doesn't work on me.
Da Mayor:
Mother Sister, you've been talkin' about me for 18 years. What have I ever done to you?
Mother Sister:
You a drunk fool!
Da Mayor:
Besides that? Da Mayor don't bother nobody and nobody no bother Da Mayor but you. The Man just tends to his own business, I love everybody, I even love you.
Mother Sister:
Hold your tongue, you don't have that much love!
Da Mayor:
One day you're gonna be nice to me. We may both be dead and buried, but you're gonna be nice, at least civil.
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Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
Another 11 wins
&
6 nominations
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User Comments:
9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful:-
Spike Lee's best work! A mind-blowing masterpiece of cinema! @, 30 April 2001
Author:
mattymatt4ever from Jersey City, NJ
"Do the Right Thing" is a powerful, uplifting, visually stunning
masterpiece. It's a movie that I can watch over and over again, and
deservedly takes the Number 7 Spot of My Favorite Movies Of All Time. This
was one of Spike's debut efforts, and until this day--the best one. Spike
gives us an honest, unflinching look at the Bedford-Stuyvestant area of
Brooklyn on the hottest day of the summer. He perfectly displays the racial
tensions that go on between everybody from blacks to whites to Koreans. Yet
he never gets preachy, which is one of the brilliant things about this
movie. Some of Spike's best work is demonstrated in his shots of Radio
Raheem, played excellently by Bill Nunn. RR doesn't say much, but he has
this violent gaze which sums up his feelings without a word being said.
Spike gives us some great angles of his face, demonstrating the pure rage
brewing inside of him. He also has a great scene in which he sums up the
meanings of love and hate, in Spike's trademark poetry-in-motion style. RR
constantly carries around a boombox, playing the same song "Fight the Power"
by Public Enemy. That song is one of the best musical themes in movie
history, perfectly summing up racial tension among inner cities. This movie
doesn't tell its audience that black people are better than others, nor does
it say that Hispanics are, or whites, or Asians. It just gives us a raw
look at what happens when we let racial quarrels get out of hand. We learn
how sometimes it's appropriate to preach against racism, and sometimes we're
just overreacting.
The cast is terrific, and they deliver memorable performances. I really
wish Danny Aiello picked up the Oscar for his role as Sal, because that is
definitely the pinnacle performance of his career and one of the best I've
ever seen. Other noteworthy performances are by John Turturro, Ossie Davis
and Giancarlo Esposito.
The film is put together with such fast-paced editing that it doesn't once
get boring, doesn't have any low points. This is a gritty, memorable film
that I wish can be considered more prominent in the eyes of the average
moviegoer, because it really deserves great recognition for its unique,
unforgettable style.
Spike definitely knows how to do the right thing.
My score: 10 (out of 10)
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