Do The Right Thing (1989)

One of those neighborhoods where everyone knows everyone else. They annoy each other, yell at each other, joke around together, watch out for each other: they are community. The story takes place over the course of one hot day. It seems like the residents have lived this type of day together hundreds of times before. 

But today, a long-simmering umbrage boils over: why doesn't the pizza restaurant -- run by people who don't live in the neighborhood -- have any photos of black people hanging in its "Wall of Fame"? And, just like that, the powder keg's long fuse is lit. The affront is nurtured and spread until it inevitably explodes and those who have coexisted together for a couple of decades are at war.

It's one of the true "must watch" films. And, though Spike Lee himself is the weak link as an actor, he more than makes up for it with his writing and direction. I did, however, have some issues with Mookie and Jade's brother/sister relationship, especially that gross opening scene where she's sleeping and he pretty much lays across her and fiddles with her mouth -- but it's a single off-note in an otherwise rich symphony of humanity.

I saw this during its initial theatrical run and I think only the fashions have aged.

B