REVIEW: SPIKE LEE: DO THE RIGHT THING

Hardcover: 360 pages
Publisher: Ammo Books (December 1, 2010)
Language: English

Celebrating just more than 20 years since its seminal debut, Do The Right Thing remains one of the most important and controversial films of its era. This explosive film masterfully explores race and class relationships. Both a critical and popular success, Do The Right Thing became a landmark film that brought serious issues in the African American community to light and established Lee as a major director in American cinema. Lee also wrote the screenplay, produced, and even starred in this deeply personal film, which was applauded for its commanding visuals provided by Danny Aiello and John Turturro, and an assertive soundtrack featuring Public Enemy's "Fight the Power."

You CANNOT even imagine how happy I was when this book arrived at my doorstep! Do the Right Thing is such an amazing movie - and it only seems right that this coffee-table book be used to celebrate it accomplishments.

Right off the back, this book is so entertaining because it features dialogue between all of the major actors/directors/producers of the film - and they don't always agree on what happened on the set! The back-and-forth between them make the book easy to read and hilarious. As soon as I started reading it, I didn't want to put it down. Imagine an E-True Hollywood Story, but in book form. It was also very interesting to remember that it was not so long ago that Brooklyn was not the place for some of the white actors to be. Race issues have come a long way since Do the Right Thing was made, and it's awesome to read about some of the things that happened while everyone was on set.

The next section of the book focused on pictures from the movie. Actually, they basically showed you the entire movie through the photography and it is GORGEOUS! Each photograph is great enough to frame and hang on your wall. They tell the story beautifully and I loved turning each page to see what picture would come next.

Finally - and this is my absolute favorite part of the book - there is actually a photocopy of Spike Lee's actual handwritten script. I mean, for me, as an aspiring writer/screenwriter, this is invaluable. I love looking at some of the things that were crossed out, placed in. I loved reading what was supposed to be versus what actually was. I think this was the most perfect way for this book to end.

Trust me, if you like films. If you like Spike Lee. If you like Do The Right Thing. This book is a MUST-BUY!

5 out of 5 stars.