# Summer of Sam (1999)

### reviewed by
Edward Johnson-Ott

Summer of Sam (1999) John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Esposito, Anthony LaPaglia, Bebe Neuwirth, Patti LuPone, Ben Gazarra, Joe Lisi, Michael Badalucco, Michael Rispoli, John Savage, Roger Guenveur Smith, Saverio Guerra, Brian Tarantino, Arthur Nascarella, Jimmy Breslin, Al Palagonia, Ken Garito, Mike Starr, Spike Lee. Screenplay by Victor Colicchio, Michael Imperioli and Lee. Directed by Spike Lee. 142 minutes. Rated 3.5 stars (out of five stars)

Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo-online.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Edward+Johnson-ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to pbbp24a@prodigy.com

In Spike Lee's crackling "Summer of Sam," the lead character is not an individual, but an entire neighborhood; specifically, a Bronx neighborhood in 1977, when the killing spree of a demented postal worker took an already blistering New York summer and cranked the temperature even a few degrees higher. Like "Do The Right Thing," Lee's best film, this is a kinetic tapestry about temptation, anger, bigotry and paranoia, one which gives the viewer a sense that everything is about to come apart and we are witnessing the last few moments before the meltdown. "Summer of Sam" has moments that are tough to watch, but for the most part, they are so well-presented that it is impossible to avert your eyes.

Writer Jimmy Breslin sets the scene, and in short order, we witness a figure lumbering through the night; David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam killer, committing his sixth and seventh murders. While the entire city is galvanized by the crimes, the film follows one group of people near the heart of the madness. John Leguizamo is Vinny, a hairdresser who routinely cheats on his wife Dionna (Mira Sorvino), seeking out women who will do the things he dares not request of his spouse, then wallowing in guilt over his actions. Dionna, who works in her father's Italian restaurant, pretends not to notice her husband's philandering and tries to come up with something, anything, that will inspire him in their own bed.

Meanwhile, Vinny's best friend Ritchie (Adrien Brody) has shaken up the locals by adopting the punk look, sporting spiked hair, freaky clothing, a bad English accent and loads of attitude. To them, he has mutated into some bizarre and possibly dangerous alien life form. Even after he hooks up with Ruby (Jennifer Esposito), the official neighborhood slut, he continues working as a dancer/hustler in a seedy gay nightspot, while pursuing dreams of musical stardom in the burgeoning punk scene at CBGB's.

As the Son of Sam continues his reign of terror, now sending letters to Jimmy Breslin boasting of his actions, the citywide tension escalates. Street traffic decreases as people stay in the safety of their homes, while many of the women who do venture out color their hair blond or don wigs, because the female victims thus far have been brunettes. Two police officers approach local crime lord Luigi (Ben Gazzara) for help and soon, the neighborhood good old boys are organizing to patrol the streets and find the killer themselves. Suspicion rises along with the heat as collective mood moves closer and closer to some dread precipice.

Spike Lee is a master at image manipulation and does fine work here, deftly incorporating period music, very effective lighting (particularly strobe effects and various white lights) and fragments of grainy footage at just the right moments to create a riveting feel of immediacy. The only time he falters is in his depiction of the twisted mind of the killer. Shots of David Berkowitz flailing about his apartment, shrieking at a barking dog, look stagy and unconvincing. One particularly daring scene shows a dog actually speaking to Berkowitz, courtesy of computer graphics. Instead of seeming horrific, the image just looks gimmicky, drawing laughs instead of shivers.

Aside from the Berkowitz interludes, Lee's stylings achieve the desired effects, drawing us into the various individual vignettes while remaining focused on the bigger picture of the dissolution of a neighborhood. Vinny and Dionna desperately try to keep their marriage together, visiting Studio 54 and Plato's Retreat along the way; Ritchie persists in his strange personal odyssey; and the tension keeps growing as the first anniversary of the initial Son of Sam attack draws near, with the killer promising to celebrate the occasion.

I've heard complaints that too many of the secondary characters in "Summer of Sam" are rough sketches at best and stereotypes at worst, but I didn't find them troubling, because this is a film about a group mentality rather than sharply defined personal profiles. That said, the lead characters all do fine work, particularly Leguizamo and Sorvino, both of whom provide appropriate depth and richness to their characters.

While not approaching the glimmering perfection of "Do The Right Thing," "Summer of Sam" is another impressive step in Spike Lee's evolution as a filmmaker. His innovative techniques are less obtrusive than in previous works, efficiently serving this disturbing tale of the variances of societal tides without coming off like showboating. Except for the talking dog, of course.

    © 1999 Ed Johnson-Ott

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