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Storyline

Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

Released

1989-06-14
Revenue

$37,300,000
Budget

$6,500,000
Runtime

2hr 0m
Genre

Drama
Status

Released
Language

English
7.9
Production

Universal Pictures, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks

Crew

Spike Lee

Director

Spike Lee

Screenplay

Spike Lee

Producer

Keywords:

new york city police brutality hip-hop italian american culture clash chaos black people heat street war restaurant critic radio transmission punk rock pizzeria police operation pizza love money racism brooklyn, new york city heatwave

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Cast

Danny Aiello

Salvatore 'Sal' Fragione

Spike Lee

Mookie

Ossie Davis

Da Mayor

Richard Edson

Vito Fragione

John Turturro

Pino Fragione

Ruby Dee

Mother Sister

Bill Nunn

Radio Raheem

Giancarlo Esposito

Buggin Out

Rosie Perez

Tina

Roger Guenveur Smith

Smiley

Samuel L. Jackson

Mister Señor Love Daddy

Paul Benjamin

ML

Frankie Faison

Coconut Sid

Robin Harris

Sweet Dick Willie

Joie Lee

Jade

Miguel Sandoval

Officer Mark Ponte

Rick Aiello

Officer Gary Long

Steve Park

Sonny

Ginny Yang

Kim

John Savage

Clifton

Steve White

Ahmad

Martin Lawrence

Cee

Leonard L. Thomas

Punchy

Christa Rivers

Ella

Frank Vincent

Charlie

Luis Antonio Ramos

Stevie

Richard Habersham

Eddie

Gwen McGee

Louise

Sherwin Park

Korean Child

Shawn Elliott

Puerto Rican Icee Man

Diva Osorio

Carmen

Chris Delaney

Stevie's Friend

Angel Ramirez Jr.

Stevie's Friend

Sixto Ramos

Stevie's Friend

Nelson Vasquez

Stevie's Friend

Travell Lee Toulson

Hector

Joel Nagle

Sergeant

David E. Weinberg

Plainclothes Detective

Yatte Brown

Double Dutch Girl

Mecca Brunson

Double Dutch Girl

Shawn Stainback

Double Dutch Girl

Soquana Wallace

Double Dutch Girl

Erik Dellums

Customer in Pizzeria (uncredited)

Nicholas Turturro

Policeman (uncredited)

Videos and Photos

Movie Reviews

Reviews for Do the Right Thing

A Review by Wuchak 6

Written by Wuchak on 2021-08-23

_**When someone does the wrong thing and others react the wrong way**_ On a hot summer day in a predominantly black neighborhood in Brook... read more

_**When someone does the wrong thing and others react the wrong way**_ On a hot summer day in a predominantly black neighborhood in Brooklyn, one person makes the wrong decision and sets off a chain of events that results in havoc. Rosie Perez is a highlight on the feminine front. “Do the Right Thing” was Spike Lee’s breakthrough film that he made when he was 31. It’s a stylish and spirited account of a mostly black community in New York City that’s well-rounded with drama, humor, entertainment, honesty and tragedy. On the one hand, this neighborhood seems like a pleasant enough place to live, if you don’t mind the big city. The characters are not painted as one-dimensional, generally speaking; they have both attributes and faults. Yet it’s a relatively peaceable environment with the various races/ethnicities getting along just fine with only minor (and amusing) altercations. Nevertheless, it’s a tinderbox that doesn’t take much to set aflame. The last act leaves a bad taste. I can’t believe Lee had the gonads to be this honest, but he shows why most people don’t want to live or do business in black neighborhoods, including many blacks. While people debate who’s right and who’s wrong, it’s simple to figure out: Buggin Out taking offense about something immaterial at Sal’s pizzeria is unjustified. If he thinks it’s that big of a deal he doesn’t have to dine there, plus he can start his own restaurant and decorate it however he wishes. At the same time, it could be argued that Sal should’ve reacted in a wiser way that turned away Buggin Out’s curious anger, rather than augment it. Meanwhile Radio Raheem makes a foolish decision by allowing Buggin Out to negatively influence him. Why can’t they just do the right thing? It’s frustrating. This is a well-made classic and worthy of its iconic status, it’s just not exactly my cup of tea due to the exasperating last act that’s too brutally honest. How about doing the right thing by making art that inspires hope, unity and healing for inner city communities? This piece points to the problem, inspires questions & debates, but offers no solutions except… move away from black neighborhoods. The film runs 2 hours and was shot in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. GRADE: B-

A Review by Geronimo1967 6

Written by Geronimo1967 on 2024-06-03

Whilst there can be no doubt of the potency of the theme here, I thought the nature of the story telling was all over the place and angry. W... read more

Whilst there can be no doubt of the potency of the theme here, I thought the nature of the story telling was all over the place and angry. With temperatures rising, literally and metaphorically, the bored youth of an area of Brooklyn are becoming more and more frustrated. The thrust of these frustrations is epitomised by a battle of wills between Italian American pizzeria owner "Sal" (Danny Aiello) and his growing number of African American clientele. His walls are covered with famous faces - Al Pacino, Frank Sinatra, etc. from his heritage but his new customers feel that they are under represented. "Sal" isn't about to be bullied into anything, and to be fair to Spike Lee he does cleverly use this slow burning fuse to illustrate an whole slew of racial attitudes amongst a diverse community where change was coming - like it or not. As the heat shows no sign of abating, tempers finally flare and a denouement results in quite some eye-opening tragedy that though effective, I found completely anachronistic. It's told very much from one perspective but not puritanically. I think that might actually exacerbate my dislike of the proceedings because what appears to be happening to a decent and hard working American citizen is that he is being bullied, coerced and ultimately violated because he won't abandon his own traditions in favour of someone else's. It's cunningly depicting a change of identity for this community in a survival of the fittest fashion that I found quite intimidating. This isn't really about the characters themselves, more about the politics of a situation that became more and toxic as people left their conciliation hat at the door of reason on their way in. The dialogue struggled to get past the fu section of the dictionary and that just compounded the sense that it was more of a not so subtle rant than a story of respect offering any decent form societal evolution and equality. Maybe Lee would do it differently now? As it is, it's raw - but not in a good way.