 |
|
|
|
| | | |
| MatchFlick Member Reviews |
All Movie Info
Directed By
Spike Lee
Written By:
Spike Lee
Cast:
Adrien Brody, John Leguizamo, Spike Lee, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Esposito, Michael Badalucco, Anthony LaPaglia, Patti LuPone, Ben Gazzara, Bebe Neuwirth, John Savage, Roger Guenveur Smith, Michael Rispoli
|
|
|
| |
Summer of Sam (1999)
 email this review to a friend
Movie Review by Chris
September 6th, 2008
|  |
Spike Lee has always been best known for his controversial views on such topics as racism, politics and other touchy subjects. Also doing a more recent documentary called 'When the Levees Broke' about the Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans, he also talks about our politics and how FEMA messed up the entire city because of their late entrance into the disaster. With Summer of Sam, many may see that the films is just a movie about how drugs, sex and violence took over in the 70's period, but it also shows how far people can be pushed and what happens when they get pushed to far. Showing not only the killer known as "Son of Sam" but also a story between Vinnie and Richie, two friends, Vinnie and his wife and about many trying to stop Sam at all costs. With great performances by John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody and Mira Sorvino, a mathod of directing which is different and complex and some scenes that some may not be able to stomach, 'Summer of Sam' is a favorite of mine right from the bat.
Vinny is basically sex deprived and cant control who his dick wants to go into next, and John Leguizamo seems to be the perfect actor to fulfill this role. With his good looks and crazy style of acting, he is my favorite character in the entire movie. Since director Spike Lee has him featured in atleast 4 or 5 sex scenes, it seems that Spike tried to show its audience how uncontrollable he really is, and that he doesnt begin to realize what hes doing wrong until his wife is leaving him. This represents many people back then and even in the modern world, since sex is taking over and teens are even now beginning to have sex, we see where this pleasure began really taking over. As his friend Richie works in Male World and is not playing in the introduction of porn films, its another example of how sex deprived the people of our world really are. Richie, played by Adrien Brody, is basically hated by every character besides Vinny and his girlfriend Ruby. They think hes a freak because he plays guitar and listens to punk-metal, but theres nothing wrong with being different and thats what Ruby tries to show him. He is a hard character to like because he does the things he does but I think its fascinating where he comes from and how he wants to be different in a world where everyone is the same. Richie is actually believe to be Sam for a while by some people trying to hunt Sam down, but the ending will piss you off when it comes to his character.
Spike Lee is a very charismatic and careful director who dares you to watch. While 'Summer of Sam' is graphically violent, covered in sex and drugs and things no one ever thought they would see, its a beautiful film to watch because its so carefully manipulated. All the characters get even amounts of screentime and its very hard to steer your attention away from the screen for lond amounts of time. The film actually becomes creepy and scary at times the more we see how crazy Sam is and how random his killings become. People claim his sexist and a woman hater because a lot of his killings were random woman he saw and chose to shot. Its very scary when we see the dog barking and thats one of the reasons he went mad, so when he shoots the dog, the man gets another one to piss him off more. As a lot of the people he kills are in cars or on their front streets, the kills are graphically realistic. With lots of splatters and brains, it brings this brutal reality to the films messy but interesting approach. Spike Lee actually makes a few appearences as a TV reporter who is on the Sam case and I didnt even notice that until I read his name in the credits.
'Summer of Sam' is a carefully executed and brutal time, and an unforgettable movie which takes you on a bumpy rollercoaster ride from beginning to end. Amazing. Spike Lee has done it again.
email this review to a friend
Comment on this Review:
Sorry, you must be a member to add comments to reviews.
Join or Login. |
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS
|
