SUMMER OF SAM (1999, Rated R)
3 spilled Peanut M&Ms (out of 4)
Directed by: Spike Lee Written by: Victor Colicchio and Michael Imperioli Cast: John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Esposito, Michael Badalucco
reviewed by Jonathan Hauer
It is the summer of 1977, and not only is it hotter than the summer of "Do the Right Thing" but the Son of Sam has struck again, and the neighborhood brown-outs are driving New Yorkers to new heights of deviance. Brooklyn is being looted, the mob is turning vigilante, and anyone who is outside of the neighborhood's realm of understanding is prey.
Spike Lee's new film once again uses a sensational catalyst to tell a story about the human condition. In "Do The Right Thing" it was a heat wave, in "He Got Game" it was the lure of celebrity and money, and in "Summer of Sam" it is the infamous serial killer (for whom the term was coined), David Berkowitz. The "Son of Sam" becomes our excuse to abuse, accuse and harm one another.
John Leguizamo turns in his best performance to date as the slimy, yet sympathetic, Vinny, a man torn between holding together his neighborhood and maintaining the integrity of his friendship with Richie (played by Adrian Brody). Brody is the real stand-out in a cast large enough to include both Ben Gazzara and Bebe Neuwirth. Richie has returned from travels, and has been greatly influenced by the English punk movement. When Richie returns to his old friends, he is sporting spiked hair, multiple piercings and a fake cockney accent. This impresses some, but quickly intimidates others that find safety and comfort in the routine of the neighborhood.
Mira Sorvino plays Vinny's wife, Dionna, and is effective and believable as a woman who just wants to make her husband happy until pushed over the edge. Michael Badalucco plays the Son of Sam himself. While his crimes, as we are shown at various intervals throughout the movie, are incredibly shocking and scary, the murderer seems more pathetic and comic than scary. One of his key scenes involving the dog that commanded him to murder comes off as more comic than harrowing.
This film is one of double standards. Vinny is willing to cheat on his wife, but if another man should insult her, he becomes vicious. The local gang harrasses and mistreats the token neighborhood homosexual, but the minute someone from outside the neighborhood should do the same they use it as an excuse to attack. When the horror and hysteria of Son of Sam's crimes reach their dizzying and climactic heights, the neighborhood uses it as an excuse to commit their own horrible acts towards those that intimidate them through individuality.
Spike Lee and writers Victor Colicchio and Michael Imperioli (of HBO's "Sopranos" watch for his cameo as Midnight) show us that the big apple is divided into neighborhoods that are every bit as gossipy as the small towns of America, and just as isolationist. At once it seems that the film is telling the story of the New York City in the summer of '77, but it becomes clear that this is truly a lesson in humanity in all of its horror and glory.
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