Do the Right Thing - wikipedia Do the Right Thing This article is about the film. For the song, see Do the Right Thing ( song ). Do the Right Thing Theatrical release poster Directed by Spike Lee Produced by Spike Lee Written by Spike Lee Starring Danny Aiello Ossie Davis Ruby Dee Richard Edson Giancarlo Esposito Spike Lee Bill Nunn John Turturro John Savage Music by Bill Lee Cinematography Ernest Dickerson Edited by Barry Alexander Brown Production company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks Distributed by Universal Pictures Release date May 19, 1989 ( 1989 - 05 - 19 ) ( Cannes ) July 21, 1989 ( 1989 - 07 - 21 ) ( United States ) Running time 120 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $6 million Box office $37.3 million Do the Right Thing is a 1989 American comedy - drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee, who also played the part of Mookie in the film. Other members of the cast include Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson. It is also notably the feature film debut of both Martin Lawrence and Rosie Perez. The movie tells the story of a Brooklyn neighborhood 's simmering racial tension, which comes to a head and culminates in tragedy on the hottest day of summer. The film was a critical and commercial success and received numerous accolades and awards, including an Academy Award nomination for Lee for Best Original Screenplay and one for Best Supporting Actor for Aiello 's portrayal of Sal the pizzeria owner. It is often listed among the greatest films of all time. In 1999, the film was deemed `` culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant '' by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Controversies 5 Critical reception 6 Awards and nominations 7 Soundtrack 7.1 Score 7.2 Soundtrack 8 References 9 Bibliography 10 Further reading 11 External links Plot Mookie ( Spike Lee ) is a 25 - year - old delivery man living in Bedford - Stuyvesant, Brooklyn with his sister, Jade ( Joie Lee ). He and his girlfriend, Tina ( Rosie Perez ), have a son. He works at the local pizzeria, but lacks ambition. Sal ( Danny Aiello ), the pizzeria 's Italian - American owner, has been in the neighborhood for 25 years. His older son Pino ( John Turturro ) intensely dislikes blacks, and does not get along with Mookie. Because of this, Pino is at odds with both his father, who is likewise bigoted but refuses to leave the increasingly African - American neighborhood, and his younger brother Vito ( Richard Edson ), who is friendly with Mookie. The neighborhood is full of distinct personalities, including Da Mayor ( Ossie Davis ), a friendly local drunk ; Mother Sister ( Ruby Dee ), who watches the neighborhood from her brownstone ; Radio Raheem ( Bill Nunn ), who blasts Public Enemy on his boombox wherever he goes ; and Smiley ( Roger Guenveur Smith ), a mentally disabled man, who meanders around the neighborhood trying to sell hand - colored pictures of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. While at Sal 's, Mookie 's trouble - making b - boyish friend, Buggin ' Out ( Giancarlo Esposito ), questions Sal about his `` Wall of Fame '', a wall decorated with photos of famous Italian - Americans. Buggin ' Out demands that Sal put up pictures of black celebrities since Sal 's pizzeria is in a black neighborhood. Sal replies that it is his business, and that he can have whomever he wants on `` The Wall of Fame ''. Buggin ' Out attempts to start a protest over the Wall of Fame. Only Radio Raheem and Smiley support him. During the day, the heat and tensions begin to rise. The local teenagers open a fire hydrant and douse the street, before police officers intervene. Mookie and Pino begin arguing over race, which leads to a series of scenes in which the characters spew racial insults into the camera. Pino and Sal talk about the neighborhood, with Pino expressing his hatred, and Sal insisting that he is not leaving. Sal almost fires Mookie, but Jade intervenes, before Mookie confronts her for being too close to Sal. That night, Buggin ' Out, Radio Raheem, and Smiley march into Sal 's and demand that Sal change the Wall of Fame. Raheem 's boombox is blaring and Sal demands that they turn the radio off, but they refuse. Buggin ' Out calls Sal and sons guineas while saying that they 're closing down the pizzeria for good until they change the Wall of Fame. Sal, in a fit of frustration, tells him he will `` tear his nigger ass '', then destroys the boombox with a baseball bat. Raheem attacks Sal, leading to a huge violent fight that spills out into the street, attracting a crowd. While Radio Raheem is choking Sal, the police arrive. They break up the fight and apprehend Radio Raheem and Buggin ' Out. Despite the pleas of his fellow officers and the onlookers, one officer refuses to release his chokehold on Raheem, killing him. Realizing that Raheem has been killed in front of onlookers, the officers place his body in the back of a squad car, and drive off, leaving Sal, Pino, and Vito unprotected. The onlookers, enraged about Radio Raheem 's death, blame Sal and his sons. Mookie grabs a trash can and throws it through the window of Sal 's pizzeria, sparking the crowd to rush into the restaurant and destroy it, with Smiley finally setting it on fire. Da Mayor pulls Sal, Pino, and Vito out of the mob 's way. Firemen and riot patrols arrive to put out the fire and disperse the crowd. After police issue a warning, the firefighters turn their hoses on the rioters, leading to more fighting and arrests. Mookie and Jade sit on the curb, watching in disbelief. Smiley wanders back into the smoldering building and hangs one of his pictures on what is left of Sal 's Wall of Fame. The next day, after having an argument with Tina, Mookie returns to Sal, who feels that Mookie betrayed him. Mookie demands his weekly pay, leading to an argument. They cautiously reconcile, and Sal finally pays him. Mister Señor Love Daddy ( Samuel L. Jackson ), a local DJ, dedicates a song to Raheem. The film ends with two quotations expressing different views about violence, one from Martin Luther King and one from Malcolm X, before fading to a photograph of them shaking hands. Prior to the credits, Lee dedicates the film to the families of six victims of police brutality : Eleanor Bumpurs, Michael Griffith, Arthur Miller, Jr., Edmund Perry, Yvonne Smallwood, and Michael Stewart. Cast Spike Lee as Mookie Danny Aiello as Sal Ossie Davis as Da Mayor Ruby Dee as Mother Sister Giancarlo Esposito as Buggin ' Out Bill Nunn as Radio Raheem John Turturro as Pino Richard Edson as Vito Roger Guenveur Smith as Smiley Rosie Perez as Tina Joie Lee as Jade Steve White as Ahmad Martin Lawrence as Cee Leonard L. Thomas as Punchy Christa Rivers as Ella Robin Harris as Sweet Dick Willie Paul Benjamin as ML Frankie Faison as Coconut Sid Samuel L. Jackson as Mister Señor Love Daddy ( credited as Sam Jackson ) Steve Park as Sonny Rick Aiello as Officer Gary Long Miguel Sandoval as Officer Mark Ponte Luis Antonio Ramos as Stevie John Savage as Clifton Frank Vincent as Charlie Richard Parnell Habersham as Eddie Ginny Yang as Kim Nicholas Turturro ( extra ) ( uncredited ) Production Spike Lee wrote the screenplay in two weeks. The original script of Do the Right Thing ends with a stronger reconciliation between Mookie and Sal. Sal 's comments to Mookie mirror Da Mayor 's earlier comments in the film and hint at some common ground and perhaps Sal 's understanding of why Mookie was motivated to destroy his restaurant. It is unclear why Lee changed the ending. The film was shot entirely on Stuyvesant Avenue between Quincy Street and Lexington Avenue in the Bedford - Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The street 's color scheme was heavily altered by the production designer, who used a great deal of red and orange paint in order to help convey the sense of a heatwave. Spike Lee campaigned for Robert De Niro as Sal the pizzeria owner, but De Niro had to decline due to prior commitments. The character of Smiley was not in the original script ; he was created by Roger Guenveur Smith, who was pestering Spike Lee for a role in the film. Four of the cast members were stand - up comedians : Martin Lawrence, Steve Park, Steve White, and Robin Harris. Controversies The film was released to protests from many reviewers, and it was openly stated in several newspapers that the film could incite black audiences to riot. Lee criticized white reviewers for implying that black audiences were incapable of restraining themselves while watching a fictional motion picture. In a 2014 interview Lee stated `` That still bugs the shit out of me, '' calling the remarks `` outrageous, egregious and, I think, racist, '' and further elaborating, `` I do n't remember people saying people were going to come out of theatres killing people after they watched Arnold Schwarzenegger films. '' One of many questions at the end of the film is whether Mookie `` does the right thing '' when he throws the garbage can through the window, thus inciting the riot that destroys Sal 's pizzeria. Critics have seen Mookie 's action both as an action that saves Sal 's life, by redirecting the crowd 's anger away from Sal to his property, and as an `` irresponsible encouragement to enact violence ''. The question is directly raised by the contradictory quotations that end the film, one advocating nonviolence, the other advocating violent self - defense in response to oppression. Spike Lee has remarked that he has only ever been asked by white viewers whether Mookie did the right thing ; black viewers do not ask the question. Lee believes the key point is that Mookie was angry at the death of Radio Raheem, and that viewers who question the riot 's justification are implicitly failing to see the difference between property and the life of a black man. In June 2006, Entertainment Weekly magazine placed Do the Right Thing at No. 22 on its list of The 25 Most Controversial Movies Ever. Critical reception This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( September 2016 ) Do the Right Thing was met with acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 93 %, based on 68 reviews, with an average rating of 8.9 / 10. The site 's critical consensus reads, `` Smart, vibrant and urgent without being didactic, Do the Right Thing is one of Spike Lee 's most fully realized efforts -- and one of the most important films of the 1980s. '' On Metacritic, the film has a score of 91 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating `` universal acclaim '', and placing it as the 68th highest film of all - time on the site. Both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert ranked the film as the best of 1989 and later ranked it as one of the top 10 films of the decade ( # 6 for Siskel and # 4 for Ebert ). Ebert later added the film to his list of The Great Movies. According to online film resource They Shoot Pictures, Do n't They ?, Do the Right Thing is the most acclaimed film of 1989. Awards and nominations List of awards and nominations Award Date of ceremony Recipients and nominees Result Academy Awards March 28, 1990 Best Supporting Actor Danny Aiello Nominated Best Original Screenplay Spike Lee Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics 1990 Grand Prix Boston Society of Film Critics 1990 Best Supporting Actor Danny Aiello Won Cannes Film Festival May 23, 1989 Palme d'Or Spike Lee Nominated Chicago Film Critics Association 1990 Best Picture Won Best Director Spike Lee Best Supporting Actor Danny Aiello Golden Globe Awards January 20, 1990 Best Motion Picture -- Drama Nominated Best Supporting Actor -- Motion Picture Danny Aiello Best Director -- Motion Picture Spike Lee Best Screenplay -- Motion Picture Los Angeles Film Critics Association December 16, 1989 Best Film Won Best Supporting Actor Danny Aiello Best Director Spike Lee Best Screenplay 2nd place Best Music Bill Lee Won MTV Movie Awards June 6, 2006 Silver Bucket of Excellence NAACP Image Awards December 11, 1989 Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Ruby Dee Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Ossie Davis National Society of Film Critics Awards January 8, 1990 Best Director Spike Lee 3rd place New York Film Critics Circle January 14, 1990 Best Film 5th place Best Screenplay Spike Lee 4th place Best Cinematography Ernest Dickerson Won The 20 / 20 Awards Best Picture Nominated Best Director Spike Lee Won Best Supporting Actor Danny Aiello Nominated John Turturro Best Original Screenplay Spike Lee Best Film Editing Barry Alexander Brown Won Best Original Song `` Fight the Power '' Music and Lyrics by Chuck D, Hank Shocklee, Eric Sadler, and Keith Shocklee American Film Institute lists AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Songs : `` Fight the Power '' -- No. 40 AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Movies ( 10th Anniversary Edition ) -- No. 96 Soundtrack The film 's score ( composed and partially performed by jazz musician Bill Lee, father of Spike Lee ) and soundtrack were both released in July 1989 on Columbia Records and Motown Records, respectively. The soundtrack was successful, reaching the number eleven spot on the Top R&B / Hip - Hop Albums chart, and peaking at sixty - eight on the Billboard 200. On the Hot R&B / Hip - Hop Singles & Tracks chart, the Perri track `` Feel So Good '' reached the fifty - first spot, while Public Enemy 's `` Fight the Power '' reached number twenty, and Guy 's `` My Fantasy '' went all the way to the top spot. `` My Fantasy '' also reached number six on the Hot Dance Music / Maxi - Singles Sales chart, and sixty - two on Billboard 's Hot 100. `` Fight the Power '' also charted high on the Hot Dance Music chart, peaking at number three, and topped the Hot Rap Singles chart. Score Do the Right Thing : Original Motion Picture Score Film score by Bill Lee Released 1989 Recorded December 12, 1988 -- December 16, 1988 Genre Film score Length 35 : 36 Label Columbia Producer Spike Lee ( exec. ) No. Title Length 1. `` Mookie Goes Home '' 1 : 21 2. `` We Love Roll Call Y - All '' 1 : 40 3. `` Father to Son '' 4 : 24 4. `` Da Mayor Drinks His Beer '' 1 : 03 5. `` Delivery for Love Daddy '' 1 : 08 6. `` Riot '' 1 : 08 7. `` Magic, Eddie, Prince Ai n't Niggers '' 1 : 58 8. `` Mookie ( Septet ) '' 6 : 45 9. `` How Long ? '' 3 : 43 10. `` Mookie ( Orchestra ) '' 6 : 32 11. `` Da Mayor Loves Mother Sister '' 1 : 23 12. `` Da Mayor Buys Roses '' 1 : 14 13. `` Tawana '' 1 : 31 14. `` Malcolm and Martin '' 1 : 46 15. `` Wake Up Finale '' 7 : 26 Soundtrack Do the Right Thing : Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Soundtrack album by Various artists Released 1989 Genre Soundtrack Length 53 : 14 Label Motown Records Producer Gregory `` Sugar Bear '' Elliott ( exec. ), Ted Hopkins ( exec. ), Mark Kibble ( exec. ), Spike Lee ( exec. ), Johnny Mercer ( exec. ) Singles from Do the Right Thing : Original Motion Picture Soundtrack `` Fight the Power '' Released : June 1989 No. Title Music Producer ( s ) Length 1. `` Fight the Power '' Public Enemy Hank Shocklee, Carl Ryder, Eric Sadler 5 : 23 2. `` My Fantasy '' Teddy Riley, Guy Teddy Riley, Gene Griffin 4 : 57 3. `` Party Hearty '' E.U. Kent Wood, JuJu House 4 : 43 4. `` Ca n't Stand It '' Steel Pulse David R. Hinds, Sidney Mills 5 : 06 5. `` Why Do n't We Try ? '' Keith John Vince Morris Raymond jones larry decarmine 3 : 35 6. `` Feel So Good '' Perri Paul Laurence, Jones 5 : 39 7. `` Do n't Shoot Me '' Take 6 Mervyn E. Warren 4 : 08 8. `` Hard to Say '' Lori Perry, Gerald Alston Laurence 3 : 21 9. `` Prove to Me '' Perri Jones, Sami McKinney 5 : 24 10. `` Never Explain Love '' Al Jarreau Jones 5 : 58 11. `` Tu y Yo / We Love ( Jingle ) '' Rubén Blades Blades 5 : 12 References Jump up ^ `` Do the Right Thing ( 15 ) ''. British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved January 19, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Do the Right Thing ( 1989 ) - Financial Information ''. The Numbers. Retrieved April 24, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Do the Right Thing ( 1989 ) ''. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 25, 2008. Jump up ^ `` AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Movies ( 10th Anniversary Edition ) ''. American Film Institute. Retrieved December 1, 2010. Jump up ^ Thompson, Anne. `` Lists : 50 Best Movies of All Time, Again ''. Variety. Internet Archive. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2010. Jump up ^ `` 100 Essential Films by the National Society of Film Critics ''. National Society of Film Critics. Published by AMC FilmSite.org. Retrieved January 14, 2011. Jump up ^ `` The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made ''. The New York Times. April 29, 2003. Retrieved December 1, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 11. Jump up ^ Gavin Edwards ( 20 June 2014 ). `` Fight the Power : Spike Lee on ' Do the Right Thing ' ''. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 April 2015. Jump up ^ `` ' Do the Right Thing ' Script ( Archived ) ''. Script - O-Rama. 28 April 2007. Archived from the original on April 28, 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2015. Jump up ^ Do The RIght Thing DVD Audio Commentary Jump up ^ Klein, Joe. `` Spiked ? '' New York June 26, 1989 : 14 -- 15. ^ Jump up to : ' Spike Lee 's Last Word ', special feature on the Criterion Collection DVD ( 2000 ) Jump up ^ Edwards, Gavin. `` Fight the Power : Spike Lee on ' Do the Right Thing ' ''. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 April 2017. ^ Jump up to : Mark A. Reid ( 1997 ). Spike Lee 's Do the right thing. Cambridge University Press. pp. 43 --. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 55954 - 6. Retrieved September 25, 2010. Jump up ^ Do The Right Thing DVD, Director 's commentary Jump up ^ `` The 25 Most Controversial Movies Ever, '' Entertainment Weekly ( Retrieved 9 Apr 2016 ). Jump up ^ `` Rotten Tomatoes ' Do the Right Thing ' profile ''. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 29 April 2015. Jump up ^ `` ' Do the Right Thing ' Metacritic profile ''. Metacritic. Retrieved 29 April 2015. Jump up ^ `` Siskel & Ebert 1989 - Best of 1989 ( 2of2 ) ''. YouTube. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2015. Jump up ^ Roger Ebert. `` The Great Movies ''. rogerebert.com. Retrieved 29 April 2015. Jump up ^ `` The 1,000 Greatest Films ( Full List ) ''. They Shoot Pictures, Do n't They ?. Jump up ^ `` Festival de Cannes : Do the Right Thing ''. festival-cannes.com. Retrieved August 1, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Do the Right Thing ( Soundtrack ) : Billboard Albums ''. Allmusic. Retrieved May 13, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Do the Right Thing ( Soundtrack ) : Billboard Singles ''. Allmusic. Retrieved May 13, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Fear of a Black Planet : Billboard Singles ''. Allmusic. Retrieved May 13, 2009. Bibliography Aftab, Kaleem. Spike Lee : That 's My Story and I 'm Sticking to It. England : Faber and Faber Limited, 2005. ISBN 0 - 393 - 06153 - 1. Spike Lee 's Last Word. Documentary on the Criterion Collection DVD of Do the Right Thing. 2000. Spike Lee et al. Commentary on the Criterion Collection DVD of Do the Right Thing. 2000. Further reading Spike Lee ; Lisa Jones ( 1989 ). Do the right thing : a Spike Lee joint. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978 - 0 - 671 - 68265 - 1. Retrieved September 25, 2010. Mark A. Reid ( 1997 ). Spike Lee 's Do the right thing. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 55954 - 6. Retrieved September 25, 2010. Film in the United States portal African American portal 1980s portal New York City portal External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Do the Right Thing Do the Right Thing at AllMovie Do the Right Thing at Box Office Mojo Do the Right Thing at the Criterion Collection Do the Right Thing on IMDb Do the Right Thing at Metacritic Do the Right Thing at Rotten Tomatoes Do the Right Thing at the TCM Movie Database Spike Lee Filmography Awards and nominations Feature films directed She 's Gotta Have It ( 1986 ) School Daze ( 1988 ) Do the Right Thing ( 1989 ) Mo ' Better Blues ( 1990 ) Jungle Fever ( 1991 ) Malcolm X ( 1992 ) Crooklyn ( 1994 ) Clockers ( 1995 ) Girl 6 ( 1996 ) Get on the Bus ( 1996 ) He Got Game ( 1998 ) Summer of Sam ( 1999 ) Bamboozled ( 2000 ) 25th Hour ( 2002 ) She Hate Me ( 2004 ) Inside Man ( 2006 ) Miracle at St. Anna ( 2008 ) Red Hook Summer ( 2012 ) Oldboy ( 2013 ) Da Sweet Blood of Jesus ( 2014 ) Chi - Raq ( 2015 ) Documentaries directed 4 Little Girls ( 1997 ) Freak ( 1998 ) The Original Kings of Comedy ( 2000 ) A Huey P. Newton Story ( 2001 ) The Concert for New York City ( 2001, `` Come Rain or Come Shine '' ) Jim Brown : All - American ( 2002 ) When the Levees Broke ( 2006 ) Kobe Doin ' Work ( 2009 ) Passing Strange ( 2009 ) If God Is Willing and da Creek Do n't Rise ( 2010 ) Bad 25 ( 2012 ) Michael Jackson 's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall ( 2016 ) Other films directed Joe 's Bed - Stuy Barbershop : We Cut Heads ( 1983 ) Lumière and Company ( 1995 ) Ten Minutes Older : The Trumpet ( 2002, segment `` We Wuz Robbed '' ) All the Invisible Children ( 2005, segment `` Jesus Children of America '' ) Television Sucker Free City ( 2004 ) She 's Gotta Have It ( 2017 ) Related articles 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks Bill Lee Joie Lee David Lee Cinqué Lee Malcolm D. Lee VIAF : 316753496 GND : 4697397 - 7 SUDOC : 124395376 BNF : cb12199475n ( data ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Do_the_Right_Thing&oldid=797580189 '' Categories : 1989 films English - language films 1980s comedy - drama films 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks films American comedy - drama films American independent films Hip hop films Hood films Films about race and ethnicity Films set in Brooklyn Films directed by Spike Lee Films shot in New York City United States National Film Registry films Universal Pictures films Italian - language films Spanish - language films 1989 soundtracks Columbia Records soundtracks Motown soundtracks English - language soundtracks Film scores Screenplays by Spike Lee American films Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from April 2012 Articles to be expanded from September 2016 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Articles with hAudio microformats Album infoboxes lacking a cover Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Track listings with deprecated parameters Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Català Deutsch Español Euskara فارسی Français Italiano עברית Kreyòl ayisyen Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Suomi Svenska Türkçe 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 28 August 2017, at 00 : 38. 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Question: where does do the right thing take place
Answer: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn