synopsis : it 's 1977 in a small italian american neighborhood in new york .
disco music is popular , and the sexual revolution is on , but the people of new york are not happy .
in fact , they 're terrified .
as in spike lee 's do the right thing a heat wave has the city in its grip , and peoples ' tempers are flaring .
the cool of night offers no respite : the neighborhood is being terrorized by a nocturnal psychotic killer who calls himself the son of sam .
no one knows who the son of sam is , and no one is safe .
all around new york people are different .
aside from cultural groupings and ethnic neighborhoods there are differences between individuals .
in the italian american section of town a philandering husband named vinny ( john leguizamo ) tries to hide his trysts and sexual behavior from his long suffering newlywed wife dionna ( mira sorvino ) .
vinny 's friend ritchie ( adrien brody ) hates disco , works at a gay strip club and does n't want any of the neighborhood folks to know .
ritchie 's girl ruby ( jennifer esposito ) is trying to escape a reputation as a slut .
everyone 's different , but nobody in the film wants to be framed as " alien " to the community .
unfortunately , the killings help create a climate of suspicion pits neighbor against neighbor .
opinion : director spike lee 's summer of sam is not about a psycho killer .
nor is it about cops trying to apprehend him .
it 's about differences and how , given the right conditions , even close neighbors can fan the hostile flames of irrational suspicion .
one thing i found interesting in summer of sam was the use of sex .
in other movies sex is glamorized .
for example , james bond gets a sexual reward for winning .
or boring made - for - video " suspense " movies are spiked with gratuitous lingerie scenes just to keep the audience awake .
and every movie or soap opera character in these flicks seems to have expert sexual prowess .
not so with summer of sam .
in a very gutsy move
director spike lee shows sex without fantasy .
sex is there , but it is n't gratuitous or titillating .
in fact , some of the main characters are downright lousy in bed .
sex is in the film because ( sexual ) deviance is part of the film 's major theme of " difference " breeding hostility .
in my opinion this kind of movie sex is cutting edge for 1999 , as rare and thought - provoking in american cinema as showing a spanking .
a very gutsy move this kind of movie sex is cutting edge rare and thought - provoking one thing i found interesting