Search - Do the Right Thing: The Criterion Collection on DVD

Thoughtful, provocative slice of life

Ivy Lin | NY NY | 02/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Do the Right Thing" chronicles a scorching hot summer day in the predominantly black Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood. We are quickly introduced to a variety of colorful characters, from Da Mayor, a neighborhood drunk who's always neatly dressed in a white suit (Ossie Davis) to Smiley, a mentally disabled man who sells pictures of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, to Radio Raheem (Bill Dunn), a young man whose prized possession is a boombox so enormous you wonder how he even carries the thing around without his arms falling off. The action centers around Sal's Famous Pizzeria. Sal (Danny Aiello) owns the joint with his sons. Vito (Richard Edson) is a racist and bully, and Pino (John Turturro) is a white "brother" type. Mookie (Spike Lee) is the delivery boy, who slacks off and just "wants to get paid." Sal is gruff and no-nonsense, but he tolerates Mookie's lateness and also has a crush on Mookie's sister Jade (Joie Lee).

On this hot summer day, Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito) notices that the pictures that line Sal's Famous are all Italian Americans. He demands that Sal put some pictures of African American celebrities on the wall. Sal tactlessly refuses, and Buggin' Out starts a boycott. On the same front, Radio Rakeem is offended at the brusque way Sal demands him to turn off his beloved boombox. Buggin' Out and Radio Raheem meet up to commiserate. At first the boycott is regarded as a joke around the nabe, but the situation escalates towards a tragic climax.

When the movie came out, many critics and politicians did some hand-wringing that the movie would incite violence. But "Do the Right Thing", seen in context almost 16 years later, is a remarkably intelligent, balanced view of race relations. This year's Academy Award nominated "Crash" is also about race relations, but it does so with about 1000 times less subtety and humor. Do the Right Thing, despite its tragic conclusion, has a lot of wit and humor. It's truly a slice of life, with not a false note in the entire cast. Lee documents the sense of community in this poor Brooklyn neighborhood, but also its problems -- unemployment, drug use, drunkeness, absentee fathers. Mookie for one has a son with his Puerto Rican girlfriend (Rosie Perez), who complains that he's never around. There are lots of one liners. One response to Buggin' Out's boycott campaign: "You wanna boycott someone? You ought to start with the godd__n barber that f__ed up your head."

Another thing Lee refuses to do is to judge any of his characters. Except for Vito, who is an irredeemable jerk. The characters are all a mix of good and bad, just as in real life. Sal is curt and gruff, but he also has genuine affection for his neighborhood. Sal's, Radio's, and Mookie's actions during the climax of the film may seem shocking and incomprehensible, but I think Lee is saying that sometimes, people do things in the heat of the moment, without thinking of its consequences. Situatons escalate, and people are helpless to stop the momentum. In the end, nobody wins. The film ends with two quotes about violence, one by Martin Luther King Jr., one by Malcolm X.

Criterion "did the right thing" with this double-disc edition. There's an audio commentary track by Lee on the first disc. The second disc is loaded with goodies: an hourlong "Making Of" documentary. You see facades being built in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood for filming. It's certainly more interesting than the normal bland gush-fest. There's the music video for "Fight for the Power", the song that Radio Raheem played on his boombox. There's also footage of a Cannes film festival news conference with Lee and his cast.

The most enriching extra is behind-the-scenes footage, where the multi-ethnic actors can be seen rehearsing their lines together. They debate the best way to portray their character or to convey plot points, and Spike Lee takes suggestions from his cast. In one of the most fascinating discussions, Lee talks about how his characters would come up with the money for their expensive clothing/jewelry. How could Radio Raheem afford such an expensive boombox (and the batteries to run the ginormous thing). He talks about the loiterers in these neighborhoods. What do they do? "Not all the money comes from selling drugs," he says. Lee says he has to honestly convey the black underclass, and not make it a cliche of selling drugs, etc. Most of all, you sense the comraderie that the actors felt making the film. All of these add a lot to understanding of the film."

The movie that put Spike on the map, and deservedly so.

Jenny J.J.I. | That Lives in Carolinas | 01/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first time I've seen Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" was at the theater and the movie refused to leave my mind for about several weeks. It just kept replaying itself constantly in my mind of the events and the turn a bouts of the story. The writing is so sharp and the movie is hilarious as well as the only movie to make Roger Ebert cry.

Deceptively open and simple in its presentation, this is one of the most complex and layered movies about human relationships that I have ever seen during that time. This movie is every bit as compound as its subject matter. I disagree with those who characterize the film as "preachy." Quite to the contrary, I think the genius of the film is precisely in the fact that Spike does not tell the viewer what to think - he just compels you to think.

Spike spends most of the movie setting up his characters and their situations, some are comedic, some are dramatic, and some are both. The acting is naturally great, with John Turturro, Danny Aiello, and Spike himself standing out as the best played and most interesting characters. The movie looks very much "of the 80's" as far as fashion and things like that go but that doesn't take any power away from the movie. But the biggest question people seem to have after they have watched this movie is about doing the right thing and whether or not Mookie did it. Spike always only says that he's never been asked that question by a person of color. However my feeling on the matter is this: Did Mookie do the right thing? No. Did Sal do the right thing? No. From the time that Radio Raheem comes into Sal's at the end, not one person does the right thing. Not Mookie, Sal, Radio, Buggin Out, the cops, or whoever. Everything horrible that happens could have been avoided if one person had done the right thing, and yet nobody does.

I think that's why the movie stuck with me. Most movies would show everyone (or just the "hero") doing the right thing and everything turning out happily, but that's not what usually happens in reality. Too often people give in to their worst instincts. In here we have New York explodes over a seemingly little incident because racial tensions are always just below the surface. This film is truly a work of art and out all Of the Spike Lee movies I've seen this is one of his finest. "Do the Right Thing" is one of the signatures of an American classic.
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