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Overall Rating
  Awesome: 24.24%
Worth A Look: 31.06%
Average: 15.91%
Pretty Bad: 17.42%
Total Crap: 11.36%
11 reviews, 66 user ratings
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| Summer of Sam |
by Scott Weinberg
"YAWN! Serial killer made boring by Mr. Pretentious"
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Is it me, or do other movie fans find the phrase "A Spike Lee Joint" embarrassing to say? Since when is a "joint" a movie? Don't get me wrong, here. I love joints. Strip joints, fat joints, and the joints that hold my entire skeleton together are pretty cool, but I still just don't get Spike Lee at all.Spike Lee probably has this banner over his bed: "Subtlety is for pussies", because he's about as light as one of Roseanne's thighs. Hey, Spike, why not give your audience a little credit for figuring some things out for themselves? Not every single scene needs to be delivered with the delicacy of a broken sledgehammer.
The plot revolves around an unappealing group of people who happen to live in the neighborhood where the Son of Sam is shooting women left and right.
Summer of Sam seems to pride itself on not having much of a traditional narrative; you're supposed to observe the neighborhood denizens, and care about them and how quickly you'd wish the killer would get to it and shoot them all in the face. But, no, we need to see over 130 minutes of embarrassing racism, homophobia, homosexual dalliances, and a twenty minute scene of Mira Sorvino and John Leguizamo dancing every five minutes. I'm lost here. There's this one scene where the dog starts to talk to the killer. It's meant to be a brief glimpse inside the head of a lunatic, scary, creepy, etc. Know how the audience reacted where I saw it? Like this:
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHwwoooooohooooAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAA"
Seriously, Spike? When audiences take your supposedly creepiest scene and laugh hysterically at it, maybe it's time for some night courses at 40 acres and a tool community college. He's certainly made some inspired movies before this one. Maybe he should get back to the telling of a story and get off the soapbox.
The most frustrating thing about Spike Lee is that he's proven that he can sustain a quality movie (Do the Right Thing, School Daze, Crooklyn) but more often than not, he is indulgent and redundant. I can see the scene now:
Universal Executive: "Hey, Spike, maybe this "joint" could use a little editing. You know, make it a little tighter, so not everyone will be staring at their watches every 23 seconds?"
Spike: "You racist!"
Maybe Spike will truly be considered a great filmmaker when he worries more about the story he's telling, and less about being an "artiste". This dull blob of a film rates two stars here only because of John Lequizamo's brilliant dramatic acting and Mira Sorvino's wonderful comic acting, even though it was quite unintentional.Looks like someone's second film after some studio saw him as the "next big thing". A yawning, sweaty chore of a film. If Spike were in the same room as you, you'd probably scream "Shut UP already!"
link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1850&reviewer=128
originally posted: 07/17/99 07:12:58
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USA
02-Jul-1999
UK
N/A
Australia
18-Nov-1999
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