Do the Right Thing

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

1989 2h 0m EN

🙌

7.8

BANGER

🔥

92%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.9

IMDB

★7.8TMDB · 2,093🍅92%Rotten Tomatoes●93Metacritic★7.9IMDB · 123,086

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Sal 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.

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

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Cast

Danny Aiello
Sal
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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Spike Lee
Writers: Spike Lee, Jeff Balsmeyer
Languages: Italian, English, Spanish, Korean
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

Made its money back 5.7× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Italian, English, Spanish, Korean.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 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#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Danny Aiello and Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Spike Lee directs. Ernest R. Dickerson behind the camera. Bill Lee scores. Barry Alexander Brown cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Italian, English, Spanish, Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 5.7× over at the box office.
237 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Italian, English, Spanish, Korean.
4Directed by Spike Lee, shot by Ernest R. Dickerson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Bill Lee. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Barry Alexander Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Danny Aiello and Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "It's the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can...".
9IMDB entry: tt0097216 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 23 themes, including "new york city", "police brutality", "hip-hop", "italian american".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ernest R. Dickerson
Original score: Bill Lee
Editing: Barry Alexander Brown
Production design: Wynn Thomas
Costume design: Ruth E. Carter
Makeup / hair: Larry M. Cherry
Sound: Skip Lievsay
Stunt coordinator: Eddie Smith
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,500,000
Box office: $37,300,000
Return: 574% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Do the Right Thing (1989)
Rotten Tomatoes: 92% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 93/100
IMDB rating: 7.9/10 · 123,086 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Nominated for 2 Oscars. 21 wins & 19 nominations total

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Spike Lee

Stills · wallpapers

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2021-08-23
★ 6/10
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-
CinemaSerf2024-06-03
★ 6/10
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.