---
title: 'Do the Right Thing (1989)'
type: 'film'
director: 'Spike Lee'
released: '1989-01-01'
runtime_minutes: 120
certification: 'R'
genres:
  - 'Drama'
  - 'Comedy'
countries:
  - 'United States'
themes:
  - 'Class Divide'
  - 'Order and Chaos'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/do-the-right-thing-1989'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097216/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# Do the Right Thing (1989)

1989 · R · 120 min · Drama, Comedy · United States


## Synopsis

Do the Right Thing is a 1989 American independent comedy-drama film produced, written and directed by Spike Lee. It features an ensemble cast that includes Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro and John Savage and is the feature film debut of Martin Lawrence and Rosie Perez. The story explores a Brooklyn neighborhood's simmering racial tension between its African-American residents and the Italian-American owners of a local pizzeria, culminating in tragedy and violence on a hot summer's day.

## Credits

- **Director:** [Spike Lee](https://cinepixo.com/people/spike-lee)
- **Screenplay:** [Spike Lee](https://cinepixo.com/people/spike-lee)
- **Producer:** [Spike Lee](https://cinepixo.com/people/spike-lee), [Monty Ross](https://cinepixo.com/people/monty-ross)
- **Original Music Composer:** [Bill Lee](https://cinepixo.com/people/bill-lee-2)
- **Director of Photography:** [Ernest Dickerson](https://cinepixo.com/people/ernest-dickerson)
- **Editor:** [Barry Alexander Brown](https://cinepixo.com/people/barry-alexander-brown)

## Cast

- [Garry Pastore](https://cinepixo.com/people/garry-pastore)
- [Roger Guenveur Smith](https://cinepixo.com/people/roger-guenveur-smith)
- [Bill Nunn](https://cinepixo.com/people/bill-nunn)
- [Nicholas Turturro](https://cinepixo.com/people/nicholas-turturro)
- [Luis Antonio Ramos](https://cinepixo.com/people/luis-antonio-ramos)
- [Robin Harris](https://cinepixo.com/people/robin-harris)
- [Steve Park](https://cinepixo.com/people/steve-park)
- [Shawn Elliott](https://cinepixo.com/people/shawn-elliott)
- [Joie Lee](https://cinepixo.com/people/joie-lee)
- [Frank Vincent](https://cinepixo.com/people/frank-vincent)
- [Richard Edson](https://cinepixo.com/people/richard-edson)
- [Martin Lawrence](https://cinepixo.com/people/martin-lawrence)
- [Ruby Dee](https://cinepixo.com/people/ruby-dee)
- [Steve White](https://cinepixo.com/people/steve-white)
- [Samuel L. Jackson](https://cinepixo.com/people/samuel-l-jackson)

## Themes & motifs

- [Class Divide](https://cinepixo.com/topics/class-divide) (theme) — A block where the businesses belong to people who do not live on it; the film spends one hot day itemising who takes money out of a neighbourhood and who only occupies it.
- [Order and Chaos](https://cinepixo.com/topics/order-and-chaos) (theme) — The heat rises all day over a set of rules nobody states aloud, and the film is exact about the moment they stop holding.

Editorial, not imported: every axis and every sentence above was written here.

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/do-the-right-thing-1989
Film facts: Wikidata (Q1141252); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.