Summer of Sam movie poster
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Summer of Sam movie poster

Summer of Sam Movie Review

In 1977 the Son of Sam was killing people left and right, and people were scared out of their minds. Of course, I wasn't alive then, so I don't really know much about it, and after watching Summer of Sam, I still don't know much about it.

If there is any movie that is based on a real story yet so off the subject at the same time, than that movie is Summer of Sam. The killer is roaming the streets and we do get to see him kill a few people here and there, but obviously director Spike Lee didn't find that very interesting, so he decides to focus on some guy living in the Bronx and his sexual escapades.

John Leguizamo stars as the Italian-American who is aware of the killings and wants Sam to be caught just like anyone else, but who at the same time doesn't want to give up his lifestyle for fear. So he parades around with his wife, played by Mira Sorvino, and has sex with her, not to mention with many other women. He's aware that he's a cheater and a bad husband, and he wants to get better, but he just gets off on screwing other women. Yeah, so that's the plot of Summer of Sam (and they are also beginning to suspect that one of his friends' is the killer).

I really don't know where Spike Lee was trying to go with this movie, because even if he is trying to focus on the emotions of the summer, he didn't do a very good job. Summer of Sam is almost a soft porn that is two and a half hours long, and really doesn't have much of a plot at all. The scenes by themselves are well done (except for one of the many sex scenes) but put altogether and everything seems like a garbled mess. I think most people would rather see a plot about the killer than about some guy who has sex with other women.

If you haven't already caught on, I am one of those people. The movie doesn't give much insight into the investigation at all, and when it does the scenes come every twenty minutes or so. At times Summer of Sam is pretty entertaining, and a lot of sex scenes aren't necessarily bad, but at the end you are still trying to figure out just what Spike Lee was aiming at. He obviously wasn't aiming at having a plot.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.

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