Do the Right Thing (1989)

On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.

Director:

Spike Lee

Writer:

Spike Lee

Stars:

Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny Aiello	...	Salvatore 'Sal' Fragione
Ossie Davis	...	Da Mayor
Ruby Dee	...	Mother Sister
Richard Edson	...	Vito
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Buggin' Out
Spike Lee	...	Mookie
Bill Nunn	...	Radio Raheem
John Turturro	...	Pino
Paul Benjamin	...	ML
Frankie Faison	...	Coconut Sid
Robin Harris	...	Sweet Dick Willie
Joie Lee	...	Jade
Miguel Sandoval	...	Officer Ponte
Rick Aiello	...	Officer Long
John Savage	...	Clifton

Storyline

It's the hottest day of the year in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, and tensions are growing there, with the only local businesses being a Korean grocery and Sal's Pizzeria. Mookie, Sal's delivery boy, manages to always be at the center of the action.

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Plot Keywords:

bedford stuyvesant | violence | pizzeria | hate | korean | 

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Taglines:

It's the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can...

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian Spanish

Release Date:

30 June 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Heatwave

Filming Locations:

Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$27,545,445 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Spike Lee originally wanted Robert De Niro for the role of Sal (Salvatore Fragione). But De Niro turned down the part, saying that it was too similar to many of the parts he had played in the past. In the end the part went to Danny Aiello.

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Goofs

Mother Sister's bouquet of flowers.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mister Senor Love Daddy: Wake up! Wake up! Up you wake!

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Connections

Referenced in Step by Step: Do the Right Thing (1996)

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Soundtracks

"Why Don't We Try"
Music and Lyrics by Raymond Jones, Larry DeCarmine, and Vincent Morris
Performed by Keith John
Jerrelle Music Publishing (ASCAP)/Zubaidah Music, Inc./Unicity Music Publishing (ASCAP)/Hey Nineteen Music (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Black Bull Productions

User Reviews

Spike Lee's explosive, brilliant cinematic masterpiece

I felt that Do the Right Thing should have been included in the AFI's Top 100. It has remained a powerful and moving film that I cannot stop thinking about years after its release. All of the elements so beautifully coalesce: the acting (from Turturro to Davis to Harris to Esposito; its all superb), the cinematography (Dickerson's extreme angles and vivid color scheme perfectly contribute to the feeling of heat), the screenplay (funny and light catapults to poignant and fierce in the blink of an eye), and the direction (Lee is never afraid to take huge risks in his technique). Everything pays off double. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen.