Do The Right Thing Review

        About time I talk about a Spike Lee film. Especially one where it’s considered his best and helped establish a new kind of sub-genre in the early 90s. Granted, this isn’t the first movie I’ve seen from him. The first was BlacKkKlansman way back in 2018, a great bio-pic that maybe I’ll talk about in the future. For now, let’s talk about Do The Right Thing. 

1. One Hot Day

        The film perfectly captures the times its set in. It’s quaint now looking at it, but somethings remain. I’ll get to that in a moment. We follow this one block of Brooklyn on a particular hot day. Specifically, the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. We follow the main character Mookie working at a Pizzeria as a delivery man. The owner Sal has a son who is openly racist to the customers.

        The whole story is interconnected with the main characters, since we see them go about the particular hot day. What I like is that they all have distinct personalities. In this instance, you would think that with the cast this big wouldn’t have any screen time. This is one of those moments where the personalities manage to get by. Either by grouping them together or having them be shown as a duo. 

        The characters are one of the best things the film has going for. The dynamic chemistry they all have manage to sell the camaraderie that the whole neighborhood has. I think it works best when Mookie is interacting with them, or the camera focuses on them. Additionally, almost all of them don’t have actual names, but nicknames that are practically their names. One named Buggin’ Out, who instigates and kicks off the main conflict in the film. 

        I think what makes the film a classic is that the whole film takes place within a day. Duh, I gave it away with the tab title. Aside from that, it represents just how volatile the neighborhood gets when one person sets it all off. In one way, I think its representative of black culture and how it affects the people around. The pizzeria in the movie has existed for a long time, and the lack of representation sets off the ensuing conflict. 

2. Spike Lee

        So, let’s talk about Spike Lee for a bit. He’s one of the first independent filmmakers to start off small then make it big. In some ways, he’s one of the pioneers that made indie films cool before the 90s when the whole style exploded. Seeing just three films of his, the films are unapologetically black. Not to say that his films are a turn off to some curious filmgoers, but his style is mostly blunt and transcends this idea of being black. 

        One big takeaway visually is how Spike Lee uses the camera. One way that he uses the camera is when he uses it as a way to see what the character is seeing. Specifically, in the scene that comes after Mookie and Pino talk about their grievances with each other’s races. The camera faces the characters and have them spout off racial stereotypes. It’s supposed to be in your face and uncomfortable. Another is how long he uses the camera for the dialogue. He uses long takes for dialogue which really give the performances the believability.

        The last thing I want to bring up is the opening dance number the film starts off in. We see a woman dance to the tune of “Fight the Power”. Her dancing doesn’t match what’s playing. I didn’t get it at first, but sitting on it more as I thought about it more. Either that or watch the Eagles getting their feathers plucked in the Super Bowl. Anyways, her dancing sort of matches with the powder keg that we see in the movie. The attitude and power keeps up with the song as its playing. 

3. Doing the “Right” thing

        In this film, the title itself is about the overall question that the movie has. The phrase doing the right thing is visually presented as we see the various people hanging out and dealing with the heat. Some people try ways to deal with it, while others are perpetually stuck since they can’t move out. For instance, Mookie is confronted by the drunk Da Mayor, who tells him to “do the right thing”. It’s vague on purpose which leaves Mookie continuing what he’s doing. 

        Vague and subjective is probably the main reason what Spike Lee is going for. Especially in the final moments in the film when the character Radio Raheem gets killed by the cops. Everyone is upset about the arrest, but Mookie decides to throw the trashcan into the pizzeria. Which predictably gets looted and sets a blaze. What’s interesting is that Mookie doesn’t participate in it and just watch it happen. So the bigger thing to ask is, did you feel something when Radio got chocked or when the looting happened?

        It's one of those things where the film doesn’t give an exact answer and lets the viewer to decide. Rarely do films do that anymore, since audiences can’t have the extra neuron in their brain to think about a movie they just sat in for a good two hours. To me, it’s evocative with what it’s going for, and shows just how timely it is since we see what’s going on in other cities with the topic the film presents is still relevant. 

4. Overall

        Do The Right Thing is a classic and timely film. It gives us a lens of some of a culture that is alien to anyone who doesn’t have that skin color. Unapologetic to the core and endearing to watch if you’re curious.