Do the Right Thing (1989)

Directed by Spike Lee. Starring Danny Aiello, Spike Lee, Ossie Davis, John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Paul Benjamin, Robin Harris, Frankie Faison, Bill Nunn, Rosie Perez, Joie Lee, Roger Guneveur Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Steve White, Christa Rivers, Martin Lawrence, Leonard L. Thomas, Steve Park. [R]

On a sweltering summer day in a predominantly black Brooklyn neighborhood, tensions are running high (especially of the racial persuasion), threatening to spill over into violence and tragedy; primary battle lines are being drawn between outspoken, angry members of the community and the owner (Aiello) of the Italian-American-owned Sal’s Pizzeria. A brilliant, energetic, highly provocative (even controversial) reflection of race relations and resentments that both simmer just below the surface and come out in ugly, destructive ways, serving as a staggering achievement for its young and brutally candid filmmaker (Lee serves as writer, director, co-lead actor, and producer). Less than two hours are spent among its sprawling cast of flawed-but-fascinating characters, but they’re each brought to vivid life—even the ones glimpsed through little more than a snapshot—and they feel as lived-in and real as those captured in a documentary series. Bold and vital, whether as an impassioned cry or as an audacious visual complaint, with expressive camera pans and zooms, subjective fourth-wall breaks, and more. What’s most alarming—especially coming from someone with as many irreverent opinions as Lee—is how no individual or event is judged directly; no one is glorified or demonized, and because rectitude requires objectivity, no one ever does the “right” thing. Public Enemy’s incendiary masterpiece, “Fight the Power,” can be heard in pieces throughout the film (and at length over the opening credits), and rarely has a pop song and a film ever achieved such auspicious symbiosis. First film roles for multiple cast members, including Perez and Lawrence. Lee would reprise his role as Mookie the pizza delivery man in his later film, Red Hook Summer.

97/100