Do the Right Thing (1989)
90%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 2 Oscars
21 wins & 17 nominations total
Smart, vibrant, and urgent without being didactic, Do the Right Thing is one of Spike Lee’s most fully realized efforts — and one of the most important films of the 1980s.
Do the Right Thing is a cinematic masterpiece that tackles important social issues with wit and style. Spike Lee’s direction is like a sharpshooter, hitting all the right targets with his witty satire and pop-culture references. The film’s scattershot style of storytelling creates a vibrant collage of a neighborhood that feels truly alive. And let’s not forget the film’s iconic soundtrack, which perfectly captures the energy and spirit of the film. Do the Right Thing is a must-see for anyone who loves great cinema and wants to understand the complexities of race relations in America.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Alfran Productions,
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Stuyvesant Street, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1989
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:2h 0m
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Language(s):English, Italian, Spanish, Korean
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jun 30, 1989 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 20, 2001
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, directed by Spike Lee, written by Spike Lee, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, Peter Bradshaw, Nigel Andrews, Kambole Campbell, Robert Osborne, Terrence Rafferty, Rene Jordan, Josh Parham, Brian Eggert, Toussaint Egan, Allison Rose, Peter Canavese, R rating, Italian-American, pizzeria, racism, Brooklyn, Buggin’ Out, Wall of Fame, black actors, tension, cultural introspection, social issue, racial tension, urban melting pot, hip-hop score, sociopolitical commentary, Spike Lee’s masterpiece
Worldwide gross: $37,295,445
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $90,880,496
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,067
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 9,910,632
US/Canada gross: $27,545,445
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $67,121,969
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 940
US/Canada opening weekend: $3,563,535
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $8,683,522
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 991
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $6,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $15,839,018
Production budget ranking: 1,492
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $8,529,311
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $66,512,167
ROI to date (est.): 273%
ROI ranking: 497
Ossie Davis – Da Mayor
Ruby Dee – Mother Sister
Richard Edson – Vito
Giancarlo Esposito – Buggin Out
Spike Lee – Mookie
Director(s)
Spike Lee
Writer(s)
Spike Lee
Producer(s)
Spike Lee
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 2 Oscars
21 wins & 17 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (101) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (93) | Rotten (8)
For all its apparent roughness, Do the Right Thing is aesthetically very sophisticated, particularly in the first half. But at the end it collapses both aesthetically and politically.
January 16, 2020
Geoffrey Nowell-Smith
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
White people are at war with black people, who are in turn at war with Latinos, but Lee extends to each faction a vibrant pop-culture identity.
August 2, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
The film-making technique is that of an expert sharpshooter: finding and targeting the enemies of freedom and brotherhood; in between, perforating expectation with witty asides and scripted satire set pieces.
July 31, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
Lee’s oft-maligned scattershot style of storytelling works to perfection here, creating irreplaceable parts of a neighbourhood collage that feels truly alive, with all the messiness that entails.
July 30, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Kambole Campbell
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
Any way you judge it, Thing reaffirms Lee’s position as a filmmaker with audacity, courage and ideas.
July 1, 2019
Robert Osborne
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
[You] need to see it for yourself. It’s a very unusual movie experience — two hours of bombardment with New York-style stimuli.
September 6, 2018
Terrence Rafferty
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
Despite its supposed multiplicity of messages, Do The Right Thing only has three: first, Spike Lee, second, Spike lee, and third, Spike Lee.
[Full review in Spanish]
June 10, 2022
Rene Jordan
El Nuevo Herald (Miami)
There is a reason this film has earned its rightful place as one of cinema’s greatest endeavors, and there is nothing but respect and admiration for Spike Lee’s masterpiece.
May 25, 2022 | Rating: 10/10
Josh Parham
Next Best Picture
Do the Right Thing endures as an essential work of cultural introspection.
February 14, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Do The Right Thing is unquestionably not only one of the greatest films the director has ever produced, but one of the most essential entries in the canon of American cinema.
October 22, 2021
Toussaint Egan
Polygon
Spike Lee, as a writer and director, speaks to and for a segment of the population.
February 23, 2021 | Rating: 4.5/5
Allison Rose
FlickDirect
Spike Lee’s magnum opus — a Stanley Kramer film on steroids. Easily on the best social issue films ever made. (4K HD Blu-ray review).
February 16, 2021 | Rating: 4/4
Peter Canavese
Celluloid Dreams…
Plot
This film looks at life in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district of Brooklyn on a hot summer Sunday. As he does everyday, Sal Fragione opens the pizza parlor he’s owned for 25 years. The neighborhood has changed considerably in the time he’s been there and is now composed primarily of African-Americans and Hispanics. His son Pino hates it there and would like nothing better than to relocate the eatery to their own neighborhood. For Sal however, the restaurant represents something that is part of his life and sees it as a part of the community. What begins as a simple complaint by one of his customers, Buggin Out – who wonders why he has only pictures of famous Italian-Americans on the wall when most of his customers are black – eventually disintegrates into violence as frustration seemingly brings out the worst in everyone.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Giancarlo Esposito plays the character Buggin’ Out in Do the Right Thing.
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