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Summer Of Sam
(rating 8 out of 10)
(1999, Directed By Spike Lee)
Spike Lee gets such a bad
rap. So much animosity is directed his way by critics and audiences alike that I can't
think of any other director with such bad luck. Well, Oliver Stone maybe. Despite the fact
Spike has kept very busy in the last 10 years (he releases one film every year on the dot)
and that he has demonstrated high variety in his selection of subject matter, Spike still
gets the shaft from everybody. General consensus is that his best film was Do The Right
Thing... and that was about 10 years ago. It doesn't help that he has such a big
mouth, publicly complaining about the apathy of the Oscars towards black films and actors
year after year (hey, then how come Cuba Gooding Jr won a couple of years back for best
supporting actor?), and generally mouthing off at anything that bothers him about
contemporary cinema (he blasted Quentin Tarantino some years back over Jackie Brown).
If he only would keep quiet and let his films talk for themselves, he wouldn't be in such
bad shape... and people would start to appreciate how talented of a filmmaker he really
is. Just take a look at Summer Of Sam, what could be this summer's best film.
Summer of Sam is a shaken and loaded epic about a
serial-killer, the overhyping media, the fall of a young couple's marriage, a great season
for the New York Yankees, and the small tragedy of a small time punkster who just wanted
to be different. Lee succeds in presenting us with the chaotic pulsating life of New York
City, Summer 1977, establishing himself as one of the great New York chroniclers--the
other being Martin Scorscese. Despite the film's title, .44 caliber serial killer David
Berkowitz isn't the central figure of the film, instead is a split center, with John
Leguizamo as Vinny, a married hair stylist who can't keep his dick in his pants, and
Richie, played by Adrien Brody, an italian american who takes up Punk with a vengeance,
even adopting a fakey english accent. It's around these two men that New York boils over
the pot and pops off its lid--During the most searing summer imaginable a madman holds the
city under a reign of murder and terror.
Lee succesfully conveys the sudden terror of Berkowitz's murders,
so much so one almost expects to have blood splatter on themselves during the scenes.
Berkowitz isn't deeply dealt with in the film, and that's just fine. Summer Of Sam
is a movie about the many events of one summer, and not a tense tale of the days of a
serial killer. This mispresentation of the film's aims has caused many bad reviews.
Vinny's story is much more than just about a young husband who ruins his marriage. Thru
Leguizamo's intense performance we see a man caught in the consuming paradox of sexual
dualism: Your wife's the mother sacred figure; Any other woman is a horny whore. Despite
Dionna's (Mira Sorvino) attempts to make the marriage work, even going as far as taking
part in an orgy, Vinnie can't reconcile the two views and his cheating ways bring the end
of their marriage. Mira Sorvino, by the way, is amazing in this film, radiant, beatiful
and controlled until she can't control herself no more. Vinny's problems are compounded by
his friends' fixation on another one of his friend's, Richie. In their blunt, sublime
ignorance, Vinny's Little Italy buds suspect Richie of being the Son Of Sam simply because
of his misunderstood Punk looks. A distraught, drugged Vinny is finally beaten and forced
to lure his childhood friend into a lynching.
Richie (Adrien Brody) on his part has many problems. His parents
move him out of the house into their garage. The old neighboorhood turns on him since he's
changed into an outsider. He takes up with a girl who truly cares for him even though
she's known as the neighborhood slut (good performance by Jennifer Esposito). Richie's a
straight-up guy, who gives a sweet and decent vibe even though to make ends meet he dances
on gay strip clubs and takes Johns on the side. So Summer Of Sam actually has a
story in its turbulent, amalgamated center about the fallout of a long-time friendship and
the demons that bring down marriages and provoke small-time lynchings.
Despite some incongruent aspects, like Spike Lee casting himself
as a TV reporter with a hilarious flat-affect and the absurd scene in which a dog actually
orders Berkowitz to kill(an actual real-life fact which Berkowitz declared when he was
arrested), Summer Of Sam retains the force of an inspired auterish film. And I'm
going to go against all the railing critics and declare this film one of the best of this
summer. Never been into bandwagons anyways.
Armando Valle
Jul/20/99
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