An "A" For Originality

by Jason R. Hewlett

During the summer of 1977, serial killer David Berkowitz terrified the city of New York with his .44 caliber slayings of young women and couples that parked along Lover's Lane. It was also a summer gripped in a suffocating heat wave and shocked by a massive riot instigated by a city wide black out. Sounds like the makings of a pretty good movie doesn't it?

Director and cowriter Spike Lee teamed up with fellow writers Victor Coliccho and Michael Imperiali to tell the story of a group of people whose lives are affected by that memorable summer and bases many of the events around the Son of Sam murders. The concept is a great one and Lee directs his film with much style and flair. He also creates, along with the talented cast, a series of totally believable characters. We spend over two hours, which is pushing it a little, with these people and by the end of the film we truly get to know them.

That's part of the problem.

I found myself not liking many of the characters in this film. Much of the action takes place in an Italian-American portion of the Bronx and most of the young members of the cast act like over-testosteroned morons. I really don't care if that's how young Italian-Americans acted in 1977 but I don't want to watch a film about it. It's frustrating to have to sit and watch people act like idiots when you would normally just not bother associating with them in real life.

The exceptions in the film are Mira Sorvino's suffering young wife and Anthony Lapaglia's homicide cop who is investigating the crime. Sorvino gets ample opportunity to strut her acting chops but LaPagia is wasted in too few scenes. I would have preferred to watch a whole film about his character than the collection of lunkheads I was forced to watch.

I suppose I shouldn't be so hard on a film because of a several annoying characters. John Lequizamo turns in a strong performance as well and the sequences about the Son of Sam himself, played by Michael Badalucco, are riveting. Again, I would have liked to see more about that story than the one with the lunkheads.

Maybe I should have just seen a documentary on Berkowitz instead. Still, Lee and company tried something new and I give them credit for that.

5 out of 10!