Summer of Sam

"No one is safe from Son of Sam."

1999 2h 22m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 554●67Metacritic★6.7IMDB · 43,268

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Synopsis

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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 Northeast Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another.

“No one is safe from Son of Sam.”

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Cast

John Leguizamo
Vinny
Adrien Brody
Ritchie
Mira Sorvino
Dionna
Jennifer Esposito
Ruby
Michael Rispoli
Joey T
Saverio Guerra
Woodstock
Brian Tarantina
Bobby Del Fiore
Al Palagonia
Anthony

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Spike Lee
Writers: Victor Colicchio, Spike Lee, Michael Imperioli
Languages: Italian, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 88% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Italian, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

284+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Spike Lee, shot by Ellen Kuras. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Terence Blanchard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Barry Alexander Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John Leguizamo and Adrien Brody and Mira Sorvino carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Spike Lee directs. Ellen Kuras behind the camera. Terence Blanchard scores. Barry Alexander Brown cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Italian, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 88% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
227 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Italian, English.
4284+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Spike Lee, shot by Ellen Kuras. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Terence Blanchard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Barry Alexander Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8John Leguizamo and Adrien Brody and Mira Sorvino carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "No one is safe from Son of Sam.".
10IMDB entry: tt0162677 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 12 themes, including "distrust", "italian american", "1970s", "paranoia".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ellen Kuras
Original score: Terence Blanchard
Editing: Barry Alexander Brown
Production design: Thérèse DePrez
Costume design: Ruth E. Carter
Makeup / hair: Margot Boccia
VFX supervisor: Todd Shifflett
Sound: Tom Fleischman
Stunt coordinator: Jeff Ward
Runtime: 142 min · 2h 22m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $22,000,000
Box office: $19,288,130
Return: 88% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Summer of Sam (1999)
Metacritic: 67/100
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 43,268 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

7 nominations total

Also by

Spike Lee

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2020-03-28
★ 8/10
There's a homicidal maniac wandering around the neighbourhood. You don't want to do anything about it? Summer of Sam is directed by Spike Lee and Lee co-writes the screenplay with Victor Colicchio and Michael Imperioli. It stars John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Esposito, Michael Rispoli, Saverio Guerra, Brian Tarantina, Al Palagonia, Ken Garito, Bebe Neuwirth and Michael Badalucco. Music is by Terence Blanchard and cinematography by Ellen Duras. It was met with some indifference upon release, for many film fans went into it expecting another "Se7en" type serial killer thriller. What we get is Spike Lee doing a clinical character piece of how the residents in a South Bronx neighbourhood react to having a serial killer in their midst. It's 1977 and it's the time of the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City, mistrust and vile character traits start to come to the fore... Lets face it, Spike Lee is often about as subtle as a sledgehammer over the head, but when it comes to characterisations - particularly when it comes to New York - he's one of the best around. He positively revels in dropping a group of unsound characters into a pressure cooker atmosphere and let them play out their respective human fallibilities. Who else could run a concurrent strand of a serial killer with a serial adulterer and produce such edgy and sly rewards?. The musical backdrop to the plotting gives us the move from disco into the punk explosion, with the juxtaposition between good friends - Leguizamo's disco dancing philanderer and Brody's (excellent) punk rocker turning gay tricks to pay for his musical aspirations - proving to be more pivotal than "Son of Sam" (Badalucco off the chain) himself. All while the "hood" lowlifes gather themselves as an army to seek out the serial killer themselves, which unfortunately means anyone remotely not in their circle of friends is a suspect!. It's no Lee masterpiece, for it's a touch too long and could have been trimmed by 15 minutes of pointless sexual exposition, while it sometimes feels like Lee is stuck between blaxploitation verve and mainstream appeasing ticket selling. Yet it's a bold piece of film making, with some genuinely jaw dropping sequences within. Prepare for a film that's big on characters during the reign of a serial killer and you might just appreciate Summer of Sam much more. 8/10

Production companies