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Do the Right Thing
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by Universal Studios
Sales Rank: 6869
Price: $10.99
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The hottest day of the year in the bedford-stuyvesant area of brooklyn explodes into events that will change the residents lives forever. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/09/2007 Starring: Danny Aiello Ruby Dee Run time: 120 minutes Rating: R Director: Spike Lee
Viewer Reviews
...there was `Do the Right Thing'. Honestly, anyone that downgrades `Crash' for being far too heavy-handed and unrealistic in its portrayal of race relations, yet lauds `Do the Right Thing' is obviously out of their minds; for the two films are practically the same film. The only thing that `Do the Right Thing' has going for it is the time issue, as in the film is set back in the 80's when this type of behavior was more prevalent (`Crash' is so incredibly unrealistic I wanted to literally kill Paul Haggis).
Cast aside the fact that I think Spike Lee is a terrible person, this film in general is really not that good.
Spike Lee is the type of director who either scores very high or sinks very low. When he is working from another medium (as with `25th Hour') he does a really good job, for he is a very good `director', but honestly I don't think he is a very good `writer'. His ideas are far too one-track-minded. He allows no room for interpretation and his personal observations are rather offensive at times. The fact that he expects us all to have the same opinion and openly rejects those who disagree makes him a poor choice for the campaigning of race relations in my opinion.
And anyone who considers Ron Howard `heavy-handed' should watch our, because Spike pours on layers thick, and honestly, he lacks the technique to smooth those layers out.
The film takes place in Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year. Mookie is a lazy kid who fathered a baby out of wedlock and hardly makes time to see his girlfriend and his son. He works for the local pizza place run by Italian Sal and his two sons. Mookie doesn't get along with Sal's oldest son Pino, but he seems to be friends with Vito. The film basically moves around with no real point for a long time, filtering in conversations between Blacks and Italians and Whites and Asians and Latinos in an attempt express racial tension and stereotypes. Some of the conversations are insulting and degrading, but then again there are a few that actually shed some light on the root problem Lee was attempting to broach. Many have mentioned the final frames of outlandish violence and this is possibly where the whole film falls to pieces for with all of Spike's heavy handling he failed to create something universally moving.
It was messy and frustrating; not in a good way.
Be forewarned; minor SPOILER here.
Spike tries really hard to create something profound but instead manages to further cement stereotypes and in the end takes us nowhere. The fact that, in the end, when a young man is murdered by the police we are expected to all of a sudden forget the fact the he was nearly five seconds ago harassing a man at his place of business for requesting that he turn down his radio, and the poor man, after trying to get this beatbox toting thug to leave finally breaks his stereo only to have this young man attempt to strangle him; well it's rather ridiculous. Sure, I am not an advocate for police brutality, but Spike tries so hard to capitalize on the Black mans struggle that he fails to pinpoint the real issues. The riot that ensues, after Mookie betrays his friend and boss Sal by vandalizing his store, is also a ridiculous example of Spike Lee missing the point.
Like I said; put down the pen and just stick to directing; please.
The acting is actually very good all the way around, and elevates this D grade movie to a C-. Mike Aiello rightfully deserved that Oscar nomination. His portrayal of Sal, the only sympathetic character in the film, is devastatingly effective. The scene where he is sitting in his store watching his son harass a mentally handicapped Black youth outside is haunting; purely haunting. I actually thought that Spike Lee also turned out a really effective turn as well, even if his character turned into someone I loathed. Rosie Perez is a spitfire here, lighting up every scene she embodies, and Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee make a nice pair as the block elders. There are a lot of characters that are very unlikable, but that doesn't mean the performances were bad. I hated Pino and Buggin' Out, but that doesn't mean that Turturro and Esposito were bad, they just played annoying characters.
In the end I cannot recommend `Do the Right Thing' because it really insults me and should insult the intelligence of the modern American. Spike Lee misses the whole idea behind race relations, concentrating on one particular struggle and ultimately holding their actions, no mater how perverse, on a pedestal as if they could do no wrong. The decision to end the film with two conflicting quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X was also a strange one, for it leaves the viewer with a sense of misplaced commitment. Is Lee advocating the horrific riot or condemning it? Judging from the films construction it would appear he is advocating it.
What a pity.
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Do the Right Thing
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