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Summer of Sam

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Summer of Sam
Newspaper cover pages with red lettering daubed over it
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySpike Lee
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEllen Kuras
Edited byBarry Alexander Brown
Music byTerence Blanchard
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release dates
  • May 20, 1999 (1999-05-20) (Cannes)
  • July 2, 1999 (1999-07-02) (United States)
Running time
142 minutes[1][2]
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Italian
Budget$22 million[3]
Box office$19.3 million[3]

Summer of Sam is a 1999 American historical crime drama film[4][5][6] directed and co-produced by Spike Lee, co-written by Lee, Michael Imperioli, and Victor Colicchio, and starring John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, and Mira Sorvino, with Michael Rispoli, Bebe Neuwirth, Patti LuPone, Anthony LaPaglia, and Ben Gazzara appear in supporting roles. Set in the Bronx in 1977, the film follows a group of residents in an Italian-American neighborhood whose lives are impacted by the serial murders committed by David Berkowitz. The murder investigation and other contemporary events, such as the New York City blackout of 1977 and the New York Yankees' winning season, provide a backdrop to the narrative.[7]

Principal photography of Summer of Sam took place in 1998 on location in the Bronx borough of New York City.

Summer of Sam premiered at Cannes on May 20, 1999 before being released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution in the United States on July 2, 1999. The film was a box-office disappointment, grossing $19.3 million against a $22 million budget.

Plot

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It is the summer of 1977, and New York City lives in fear of the ".44 Caliber Killer", who shoots young women and their male companions. The killer, David Berkowitz, later identifies himself as "Son of Sam" in a note left at a murder scene. The deranged Berkowitz lives in a messy apartment, where he is driven mad by the barking of a neighbor's large black labrador, Harvey, the dog of Sam Carr, and has a hallucination of the dog directing him to kill.

In an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx, philandering hairdresser Vinny and his wife Dionna go disco dancing at a local nightclub, where they meet Dionna's attractive cousin Chiara. Vinny offers to drive Chiara home while Dionna remains at the club. Vinny and Chiara then park on a residential street and have sex in the car. Son of Sam watches them, but when another couple pulls up behind their car, flashing their lights and honking their horn, Vinny and Chiara drive off, embarrassed. After they leave, Son of Sam kills the couple who had parked behind Vinny. When Vinny picks up Dionna back at the club, she notices the smell of vaginal lubrication on his face and realizes he had sex with Chiara but does not let on that she knows.

On the drive home, Vinny notices police near the location where he had parked with Chiara and sees the bodies of the slain couple. The religious and guilty Vinny, realizing he could have been a victim, decides that God spared him in order to give him a chance to reform his ways and stop cheating on his wife. Although Vinny loves Dionna, their sex life is suffering because Vinny enjoys anal sex, "69,” and other sex acts that he considers kinky, but which he cannot bring himself to discuss or perform with his wife. He is also having an affair with Gloria, the owner of the hair salon where he works, while Dionna maintains employment at her father's restaurant.

The next day, while Vinny is hanging out with neighborhood drug dealer Joey T and his friends, Vinny's old friend Ritchie, who has been away for some time, reappears, sporting a punk spiked hairdo and clothing and affecting a British accent. Vinny, Joey T, and the others dislike the change in Ritchie and he soon finds himself unwelcome in the neighborhood. Ruby, a promiscuous local girl, is attracted to Ritchie and the two begin a relationship. Unlike other men, Ritchie takes an interest in Ruby as a person, not just as a sexual outlet. She learns that he makes money by erotic dancing and prostituting himself to men at a gay adult movie theater but remains loyal to him and begins to dress in punk fashion herself.

As the Son of Sam killings continue, tension rises in the neighborhood. A local police detective asks the local mob boss to help him find the killer; Joey T and his friends also make a list of possible suspects, including Ritchie whom they regard as "a freak". Ritchie and Ruby invite Vinny and Dionna to come see their punk band perform at CBGB, but once there, Dionna feels intimidated by the punk crowd and refuses to go in. Vinny and Dionna instead go to Studio 54, where they are denied entry and finally end up at Plato's Retreat where they take drugs and participate in an orgy. Vinny becomes upset when he sees Dionna appearing to enjoy the experience of having sex with another man, even though he himself is having sex with other women. He berates Dionna in the car on the way home, resulting in his angered wife revealing that she knows he cheated on her with Chiara. She storms off to stay at her father's house. Vinny begins to drink, uses drugs and makes a scene at Gloria's hair salon, causing her to angrily throw him out and then inform Dionna about their affair. Upon hearing from Gloria, Dionna leaves Vinny for good.

Joey T and his gang decide that the latest witness sketch of Son of Sam released by the police resembles Ritchie and attempt to track him down at CBGB. Joey persuades the unstable Vinny, who is high on drugs he has taken to dull the pain of his impending divorce, to help them lure Ritchie out of his house, since Vinny is the only local friend Ritchie still trusts. Unbeknownst to Vinny and his friends, the police have already arrested David Berkowitz, the real Son of Sam. Vinny goes to Ritchie's family home, where Ritchie and Ruby are packing up to leave town, and lures Ritchie out on the pretext of talking about his failing marriage. Once Ritchie is outside, Vinny warns Ritchie under his breath to run, but Ritchie does not heed the warning and is attacked and severely beaten by Joey T and his gang. Ritchie's stepfather, Eddie, emerges from the house brandishing his gun and rescues the badly injured Ritchie, telling the attackers that Ritchie is not the Son of Sam and that the TV news is reporting that the police have just arrested the real killer. Unable to face Ritchie, Vinny walks away.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

Development

[edit]

The original screenplay for Summer of Sam was written by Victor Colicchio and Michael Imperioli.[8] Initially, Spike Lee planned to only serve as an executive producer on the project, but was so impressed by the screenplay that he sought to direct the project.[8] Lee performed rewrites of Colicchio and Imperioli's screenplay, resulting in all three receiving screenwriting credit.[8] It marked Lee's first film to feature a predominately white cast.[8] "The reason for me doing this film is because I love the script," said Lee. "It’s a great story, simple as that."[8]

Casting

[edit]

Spike Lee spent months trying to convince Leonardo DiCaprio to take the role of Ritchie.[9] DiCaprio declined the role and Adrien Brody was cast as Ritchie.[9][10] To prepare for the role as a punk rocker, Brody learned to play guitar.[11]

Lee later stated the role of Dionna was originally written with Jennifer Esposito in mind. A cast reshuffle ended with Mira Sorvino as Dionna and Esposito as Ruby.[12] Journalist Jimmy Breslin, to whom the real Son of Sam sent letters during the time of the murders, appears as himself introducing and closing the film. Phil Rizzuto appears in the film as the Yankees' broadcaster and boxer Evander Holyfield makes a brief appearance as a man in a riot.

Filming

[edit]

The film was largely shot during the summer of 1998 and set in the Italian-American neighborhoods of Country Club, Morris Park and Throggs Neck sections of the Bronx, with some scenes filmed in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Although most of the Son of Sam murders actually took place in Queens, the double shooting that Vinny narrowly escapes has been called an accurate depiction of the April 1977 killing of Alexander Esau and Valentina Suriani in the Bronx.[7] Marie's Beauty Lounge, the salon where Vinny works, was a real salon on Morris Park Avenue, between Williamsbridge Road and Bronxdale Avenue. The real CBGB club was also used; the band L.E.S. Stitches shown playing there was a contemporary punk band from New York's Lower East Side.

Adrien Brody's nose was broken during the climactic fight scene in which his character Ritchie is brutally beaten by his friends.[13]

Post-production

[edit]

The sex orgy scene at Plato's Retreat included more explicit shots in the original cut but was edited after the MPAA threatened the film with an "NC-17" rating.[14][12][15]

Soundtrack

[edit]
Summer of Sam: Original Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Various
ReleasedJune 29, 1999
Recorded1971–1983
Genres
Length56:21
LabelHollywood Records
ProducerSpike Lee (exec.)
  1. "Got to Give It Up – Marvin Gaye (6:02)
  2. "Dancing Queen" – ABBA (3:49)
  3. "Baba O'Riley" – The Who (5:09)
  4. "Running Away" – Roy Ayers (3:12)
  5. "Everybody Dance" – Chic (3:31)
  6. "La Vie En rose" – Grace Jones (7:27)
  7. "Let No Man Put Asunder" – First Choice (7:59)
  8. "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" – Elvin Bishop (2:58)
  9. "There But For the Grace of God Go I" – Machine (4:58)
  10. "Best of My Love" – The Emotions (3:46)
  11. "Dance with Me" – Peter Brown (3:50)
  12. "Don't Leave Me This Way" – Thelma Houston (3:40)

Release

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Summer of Sam premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 1999,[5] and was released in the United States on July 2.[3][16] The film premiered in the United Kingdom at the London Film Festival on November 12, 1999.[17]

Home media

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Buena Vista Home Entertainment released Summer of Sam on VHS and DVD in 2000.[18][19] In 2018, Buena Vista released the film on Blu-ray as a double feature with Lee's Miracle at St. Anna.[20] Kino Lorber issued a standalone Blu-ray edition on February 1, 2020.[21]

Reception

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Box office

[edit]

The film grossed $7.8 million in its opening weekend, ranking at eighth place at the box office.[22][23] It dropped to number ten in its second weekend, grossing $3.4 million.[24][25]

Critical response

[edit]

Summer of Sam received mixed reviews from critics.[26] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 104 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Spike Lee offers intense visuals but his storytelling feels crowded and overambitious."[27] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 67 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[28] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D−" on an A+ to F scale.[29]

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times stated "Lee is a powerful filmmaker who certainly knows how to have an impact on an audience, but those who survive his ministrations are likely to wonder if in this case the battle was worth the bruises".[30] Todd McCarthy of Variety gave a positive review, writing the film "is the closest Lee has yet come to Scorsese territory."[5] In the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave it three-and-a-half out of four stars and regarded the screenplay as more of "an analytical outsider's view" of provincial scapegoating rather than "the inside, autobiographical job of a Martin Scorsese film".[31] He added Summer of Sam "vibrates with fear, guilt and lust", and that the film is "not about the killer, but about his victims—not those he murdered, but those whose overheated imaginations bloomed into a lynch mob mentality. There is a sequence near the end of the film that shows a side of human nature as ugly as it is familiar: the fever to find someone to blame and the need to blame someone who is different."[31]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone similarly praised the film's social commentary, writing, "this tenaciously gripping film is only marginally concerned with Berkowitz... It’s Lee’s ambition—only partly realized—to show how the killings combined with the heat, blackouts and looting, as well as sexual, racial and cultural tensions, to turn an Italian-American community in the Bronx against itself and all outsiders."[10]

According to film academic R. Barton Palmer in 2011, Summer of Sam continues to be widely viewed as Spike Lee's most controversial film, "issuing a cynical appeal to trashy tastes", which has "prevented some critics from according it more than cursory consideration". Many critics objected to its handling of sexual themes, its pervasive street language, and "what some saw as [Lee's] bitterly negative and even defamatory representations of white ethnic culture".[32]

Accolades

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Award Year Category Subject Result Ref.
ALMA Awards 2000 Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film John Leguizamo Nominated [33]
Black Reel Awards 2000 Best Film Soundtrack Terence Blanchard Nominated [34]
Theatrical - Best Director Spike Lee Nominated
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards 2000 Worst Supporting Actor Nominated [35]
Valladolid International Film Festival 1999 Golden Spike Nominated

Controversy

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The film drew some criticism from the family on Donna Lauria, one of Berkowitz's victims, due to it being filmed near the Bronx neighborhood where her murder took place.[36] Lee responded to criticisms of exploitation, stating:

You know, we understand the pain that they have felt for the last twenty plus years. No one can bring back their loved ones. But number one, this film is not just about David Berkowitz or the Son of Sam. It’s about that crazy summer. In no way, shape, or form do we exploit David Berkowitz or the victims in this film. We really can’t say more than that about those charges by the parents of those victims.[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Summer of Sam (18)". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on August 12, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Summer of Sam". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on May 21, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "Summer of Sam". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 4, 2025.
  4. ↑ Oller, Jacob (May 3, 2024). "The Weekend Watch: Summer of Sam". Paste. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 McCarthy, Todd (May 21, 1999). "Summer of Sam". Variety. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  6. ↑ Butt, Thomas (July 21, 2024). "Spike Lee's Serial Killer Thriller Is Based on an Infamous Murderer?". Collider. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  7. 1 2 Von Tunzelmann, Alex (April 26, 2012). "Summer of Sam is an almost boringly flawless portrait of a real-life monster". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on October 7, 2014. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Metcalfe, Nasser (July 1999). "Spike Lee Summer of Sam Interview". BlackFilm.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Summer of Spike a hot one". Toronto Sun. May 21, 1999. Archived from the original on September 3, 2000.
  10. 1 2 Travers, Peter (July 3, 1999). "Summer of Sam". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 25, 2025.
  11. ↑ Fuchs, Cynthia (January 2, 2003). "The Pianist: An Interview with Adrien Brody". PopMatters. Archived from the original on October 7, 2025.
  12. 1 2 "Movie Preview: Summer of Sam". Entertainment Weekly. April 19, 1999. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  13. ↑ Hempe, Mary Anne (April 22, 2011). "A Never-Mess-With-Adrien Brody Double Feature". Pop Magazine. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  14. ↑ Berardinelli, James (1999). "Summer of Sam: A Film Review". Archived from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  15. ↑ Holtz, Mike. "Summer of Sam (1999) – WTF Happened to This Horror Movie?". JoBlo.com. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  16. ↑ Maslin, Janet (May 21, 1999). "CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; Fascinating Features on Sidelines Outsparkle Main Event at Cannes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 10, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  17. ↑ Norman, Neil (November 3, 1999). "Night of stars is followed by a Summer of Sam". Evening Standard. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Summer of Sam (VHS). Buena Vista Home Entertainment. 2000. OCLC 43074019.
  19. ↑ Kunisch, Blake (January 28, 2000). "Summer of Sam". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on August 12, 2026.
  20. ↑ "The Spike Lee Joint Collection Volume 2". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2025.
  21. ↑ Kozak, Oktay Ege (February 10, 2020). "Summer of Sam". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021.
  22. ↑ Natale, Richard (July 6, 1999). "'West' Tops in Wild, Wild Weekend". Los Angeles Times.
  23. ↑ "A wild, wild weekend at July Fourth box office". The Pantagraph. July 7, 1999. p. D5. Retrieved October 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ Welkos, Robert W. (July 13, 1999). "'American Pie' Cuts Biggest Slice". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022.
  25. ↑ Breznican, Anthony (July 13, 1999). "'American Pie' tops gross-out comedies among moviegoers". Florida Today. p. 2D. Retrieved October 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica. Vol. 7 (15th ed.). 2002. p. 237. ISBN 0852297874.
  27. ↑ "Summer of Sam". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 1, 2025. Edit this at Wikidata
  28. ↑ "Summer of Sam". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  29. ↑ "SUMMER OF SAM (1999) D-". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  30. ↑ Turan, Kenneth (July 2, 1999). "'Summer,' and Livin' Ain't Easy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  31. 1 2 Ebert, Roger (July 2, 1999). "Summer of Sam". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  32. ↑ Palmer, R. Barton (2011). "Monsters and Moralism in Summer of Sam". In Conard, Mark (ed.). The Philosophy of Spike Lee. University Press of Kentucky. p. 54. ISBN 978-0813133812.
  33. ↑ "2000 ALMA Awards Nominees". ALMA Awards. Archived from the original on October 19, 2002. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  34. ↑ "Past Winners & Nominees". Black Reel Awards. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  35. ↑ "'Wild Wild West,' 'Phantom Menace' are biggest losers in annual Stinkers bad movie poll". Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. March 24, 2000. Archived from the original on February 17, 2002. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  36. ↑ "Spike Lee's 'Summer' Draws Protest". San Francisco Chronicle. July 13, 1998. p. D5 – via Newspapers.com.
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