Summer of Sam (1999)

Spike Lee's take on the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City during the summer of 1977 centering on the residents of an Italian-American South Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another.

Director:

Spike Lee

Writers:

Victor Colicchio, Michael Imperioli,

Stars:

John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Leguizamo	...	Vinny
Adrien Brody	...	Richie
Mira Sorvino	...	Dionna
Jennifer Esposito	...	Ruby
Michael Rispoli	...	Joey T
Saverio Guerra	...	Woodstock
Brian Tarantina	...	Bobby Del Fiore
Al Palagonia	...	Anthony
Ken Garito	...	Brian
Bebe Neuwirth	...	Gloria
Patti LuPone	...	Helen
Mike Starr	...	Eddie
Anthony LaPaglia	...	Detective Lou Petrocelli
Roger Guenveur Smith	...	Detective Curt Atwater
Ben Gazzara	...	Luigi

Storyline

Spike Lee's take on the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City during the summer of 1977 centering on the residents of an Italian-American South Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | fear | italian american | new york city | distrust | 

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Taglines:

It Was A Time They'd Never Forget

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong graphic violence and sexuality, pervasive strong language and drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

2 July 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Son of Sam

Filming Locations:

Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£173,471 (UK) (14 January 2000)

Gross:

£173,471 (UK) (14 January 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, Touchstone Pictures, Hostage Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

142 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio Del Toro were originally considered for the lead roles.

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Goofs

When the guys come to get Vinny to help them with Richie, Vinny picks up the phone to call the police. When the phone is ripped off the wall, you can see that there is no phone line or place to plug in the phone on the wall.

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Quotes

Vinny: Come on, get in the car. Please, baby.
Dionna: Baby? Don't you dare "baby" me! I'm gonna wait here! I'm gonna wait here until somebody comes along. You know what? I'm gonna wait until some soul brother comes along in his big black Cadillac. And you know and I know that he's got a big black dick too.
Vinny: Don't talk like that, just get inside the car.
Dionna: Oh, fuck you!
Vinny: Please, please, don't make me have to beg you. Come on- don't make me have to hurt you.
Dionna: Hurt me? Don't you lay a fuckin' pinkie on me!

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Crazy Credits

The credits are in the form of newspaper headlines.

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Connections

References Dead End (1937)

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Soundtracks

"Galaxy"
(1977)
Written by Thomas Allen (as Sylvester Allen), Harold R. Brown (as Harold Brown),
Morris D. Dickerson (as Morris Dickerson), Lonnie Jordan (as Leroy Jordan), Charles Miller,
, Lee Oskar, Howard E. Scott (as Howard Scott) and Jerry Goldstein
Performed by War
Courtesy of MCA Records
Under license from Universal Music Special Markets

User Reviews

No Longer A Subjective Opinion: New York Is The Greatest City In The World!

Originally, the term, Chauvinist, derived from the articulate Frenchman, Chauvin, who thought French culture was unquestionably superior to virtually all other cultures in the world. Today,the term, Chauvinist, is construed as something pejorative with regards to eschewing feminism, aka the "Male Chauvinist Pig". When implementing Chauvinism by its real definition,New York is the number one city (Dallas being a distant second) that would be classified as the most Chauvanistic city in the world! This adamant belief, which is garnered by many New Yorkers, (Including the people in this movie) evokes a quintessential candor with everyone about how New York is the only real city in the world. Snobbery amongst New Yorkers is not about country club elitism, rather, it deals with a cosmopolitan superiority which pertains to the actual concept of a city, and, its aggregate potential that purports how intensely urban a city like New York, and only New York, can actually be! Ironically enough, the New Yorker's bravado is predicated on how New York City is one big citadel for imperfection, and intransigent life lessons. There is just something acutely enlightening, and genuinely humorous about meeting an individual who truly believes that he is the best at something. New Yorkers of this ilk have the exuberance, not to mention, the b**ls (time to insert a euphemism) to cogently believe that they are, indeed, the greatest city in the world. What does this long dissertation have to do with the movie "Summer of Sam"? Only this, all of the characters in this movie were New Yorkers who all possess this Promethian New York City attitude.This movie deals with a lot of Italian Americans living in New York. I am Italian in descent, and, I have noticed that New York Italians differentiate themselves from all other Italian Americans in that they are for more ingrained with the old world Italian ideals. The film, "Moonstruck" established such a theory as their foundation for their movie's dynamic. Focusing now on the movie "Summer of Sam", the whole plot was very high strung. The reaffirmation of the "Saturday Night Fever" mentality gave the movie audience a crystal clear concept of the prevailing mindset for all the significant characters in this film. Set in New York, back in 1977, Elvis passed away,"Studio 54" became a nightclub sensation, Jimmy Carter was President, disco was king, gas was rationed, inflation was double digits, and that summer in New York City, in 1977, was one of the most hot and sweltering summers in the city's history. These young men were not just hot from the oppressive summer days, but also, from "really liking" Farah Fawcett Majors. While culture clashes disseminated an old stand-by motley crew of lost souls from the Bronx, the "Son of Sam" was at large to terrorize everyone just totally sh**less(time to insert another euphemism). The violence, the agitation,and the paradoxical love/hate relationship with New York City, all were executed flawlessly with this film! I found it interesting how someone would not slug you if you bumped into him and uttered profanity at him, but, he would deck you for being a Red Sox fan... Only the Yankees... Remember! The movie "Summer of Sam" covered the phenomenal event whereby Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in one game to win the 1977 World Series for the New York Yankees. This is painstakingly ironic that I just saw this movie, as I recently witnessed the World Series this year, 2011, in which, Albert Puljous hit three home runs in one World Series game against Texas. Only three players in the history of baseball have accomplished something so paramount: Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, (As this movie points out) and, the 2011 World Series, Albert Puljous (For the champion St Louis Cardinals). Baseball in New York City has perennially been an identifiably pandemic obsession for New Yorkers to thrive on! Spike Lee directs this film, and, he is a wealth of talent (Including his performance in "Do The Right Thing"). The acting in this movie has a sensational authenticity to it.John Leguizamo was particularly convincing with his role in this movie, as the John Travolta incarnate case. Adrien Brody displayed an effective innocence as the emerging spawn of Punk Rock pop culture. Finally, the strong performance by Bebe Neuwirth(Formerly "Lilith" of "Cheers") was very impressive! The use of cuss words in this film, overwhelms you, as the "F" word is used 324 times! Invariably, if a film is truly a good one, more often than not, it sensitizes you with some sort of indelible concept.. In my case, the New York Chauvanism, as depicted with such a fervent intensity in the movie "Summer of Sam", was emphatically and indisputably, the concept which achieved such a feat. It is realistically indicative of our honestly innate human nature to be intrigued with someone who is convinced that his city is undeniably, the overall, number one, best city in the entire world, period! Americans still love a winner, in that case, they should love this movie! Without a doubt; "There are eight million stories in the naked city,and this (Wonderfully creative masterpiece of a movie) was one of them!"