WITH ‘SOS’, SPIKE LEE PROVES HE STILL GOT GAME
(reviewed at AMC Marple 10 with Jack on Sunday, July 11th (BATB) 1999)
I love summer films the same as the next dridiot, but don’t you love it when something really cool shows up out of nowhere, and knocks your socks off? I know this doesn’t make sense for me since I’ve been avidly awaiting Spike Lee’s latest high energy spectacle, “Summer of Sam”, but it’s great to see such a smart and different type of film open up all the while the no IQ films “Wild, Wild West”, “Big Daddy”, “The General’s Daughter” and “The Phantom Menace” are playing and hoarding all of the green.
This summer deserved a treat after witnessing a bad ‘Star Wars’ flick that we had such high hopes for, and it seems like us film goers are finally receiving one. “South Park”, “Eyes Wide Shut”, “The Blair Witch Project”, and “Summer of Sam” are all out there, just waiting for people to be awed. This is the true meaning of summer. Not a bad new re-make (WWW), not a God awful sci-fi flick (TPM), not another dumb Travolta film (TGD). Spike Lee directing a hugely entertaining topic with New York City 1977 in the backdrop, two full length The Who songs, Adrien Brody and John Leguizamo giving fantastic performances, and enough blood and sex to make the R rating seem sketchy. Am I in heaven or what?
“Summer of Sam” obviously sets the stage as the notorius David ‘Son of Sam’ Berkowitz is entering his second killing summer. It’s the summer of ’77, when the Yankees were kings, when a blackout sent chills down everyones spine, and when lovers lane turned into a butchers stalking ground.
We’re introduced to Sam as he screams in his dirty apartment while a dog across the street barks incessantly. “Shut that dog up!” the serial killer yells.
Locals from the neighborhood make up the film while Sam is merely a backdrop. John Leguizamo plays a cheating husband while Mira Sorvino plays his innocent and almost oblivious wife. A bunch of regulars converge by the river at a Dead End of a street. Adrien Brody shows up with his new look, a punk with a new British accent. The locals don’t like this one bit and eventually disown him. He takes his new gal, the hot and sultry Jennifer Esposito, with him into his new punk world. On the side he dances in Male World and by night he plays the punk club CBGB’s.
Each character weaves in and out of the main story, which is Leguizamo’s realization that he has to stop cheating on his wife. It’s too hard for him and eventually everything builds to a fever pitch.
I have never seen John Leguizamo act better. He’s a great actor here, the best you could ask for. His character is real and is actions identifiable. Mira Sorvino on the other hand is awful here. She reminded me a lot like Sharon Stone in “Casino”, because the only time she acts is when she’s screaming. Whoever gave her that Oscar a few years back better take it away.
Adrien Brody is great, but Jennifer Esposito really proves she’s a hot talent. Her change from neighborhood slut to punk g-friend is more believable than Brody’s.
The rest of the Dead End gang is straight out of “The Soprano’s” or “Goodfellas”, but they work because they bring humor to the film and hunanity.
The best thing about the film is Spike Lee’s direction and the editing. I loved his last film, “He Got Game” and his previous “Clockers” mostly because of the high energy and frantic editing. “Summer of Sam” is no different. Edited to perfection and crazy, high energy, wild, out there, bold, stylized. The Who’s ‘Baba O’Reilly’ song montage is a classic, edited with Brody’s guitar strumming, Sam’s murderous rampage, and probably every other piece of film lying on the cutting floor. The ending sequence which errupts in a bottomless pit of brutality is extremely powerful.
All in all the film works well. There are a few scenes that don’t work, notably the Sorvino/Leguizamo “Casino”-esque arguments, but the style definitely wins you over. Spike Lee is a great filmmaker. In a summer of shit, it’s great to see a hit. ***
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