Summer of Sam

This movie is a complete waste of time and effort. It's nothing more than a superficial story of a few tacky, obnoxious kids arguing with each other over their trivial lives. So far (about halfway through the movie), I have yet to see anything meaningful about the actual case. For me, it is a total waste of time. I wasn't interested in seeing a trivial storyline about a few New Yorkers. I wanted to see how the case developed, which so far hasn't happened. Maybe it will change and I'll be surprised by an actual plot, but so far I've seen nothing worthwhile. Who cares about"The Perils of Pauline" as told by a handful of punks?

Okay. I was reading about serial killers around the world and David Berkowitz popped up. Then I find this movie. It really sucked. I didn't learn much more than I had already read. In fact I feel like i knew more than the filmmakers. And it was really really boring. And Spike Lee is rather impressive. Its an old movie (okay, not vintage old but old enough), perhaps it just didn't age well? Perhaps watching an old movie depicting and even older time period one can see the 90's reinventing the 70's instead of just trying to tell the story of Son of Sam. What a waste of time. Pity. I guess I should have read the synopsis: "Spike Lee's take on the Son of Sam" I don't care about his take on the matter, I wanted to know more about the matter.

If you enjoy hearing the "F" word every other sentence, then THIS is the movie for you! Sorry Spike, but not even New Yorkers cursed THIS much in the 1970's. It's hard to believe that classy actors such as Leguizamo, Sorvino and Neuwirth agreed to appear in this trash. A huge waste of my time.

It's difficult to put into words the almost seething hatred I have of this film. But I'll try: Every other word was an expletive, the sex scenes were uncomfortable, drugs were rampant and stereotyping was beyond the norm, if not offensive to Italian-Americans. I'm not saying the acting was terrible, because Leguizamo, Sorvino, Brody, Espisito et. al, performed well. But...almost every character in the film I despised. Not since The Bonfire of the Vanities have I disliked every character on screen.

I think they should change the title to this movie to Summer of Ignorant Morons!! What a boring, no brain movie! What was billed as a movie about the Son of Sam murders in NYC turned out to be a mini-porno movie. Trying to keep up with this is like trying to sleep through a root canal. Who in the hell wants to sit through over 2 hours watching a gang of punks and how they lived in the summer of '77 in NYC? Oh, and every now and then the actual murders would be thrown in, I guess to try to keep true to the actual billing. Didn't work. What I can't understand is why in the hell would you make a movie like this, which in fact has nothing to do with the Son of Sam murders, and try to connect it with the murders? Pure Garbage!!

This movie was not only not scary but it was just dirty. It was soft core *. There was no suspense and a lot of it was just stupid and confusing. It was not enjoyable. Maybe if you're a Spike Lee fan or were alive during that time, you could appreciate it more but as for me and my friends, we hated it. A waste of some serious time.

What a terrible film. I saw this in a theater and will never forget when, in what supposed to be a moment of terror and psychosis, David Berkowitz begins to hear a dog speak to him. The audience howled with laughter! I wanted to walk out, but my friend didn't and he had the car keys. Avoid this unless you crave a really violent episode of "Welcome Back, Kotter!" The stereotyping is an insult to Italians, and only Spike Lee could inject racism into a story about the Son of Sam (his cameo as a reporter has black people yelling about what would happen if the murderer turns out to be black - gimme a break) This is without question one of the worst films I have ever seen!

This film was engulfed with some of the most unlikable characters in movie history.. Everyone was either a moronic thug wannabe or a self absorbed drugged out sex freak. I rooted for no one. The Son of Sam killer was not the focus of the film, it was only a backdrop for us to view the lives of a bunch of losers. Most of the acting was either sub par or over the top with maybe the exception of Mira Sorvino. I gave it a 3 just for the music and Mira, otherwise it was a zero. There has never been a good film about the events of Son of Sam, only documentaries.

This is one of the most pathetic movies I have ever seen. People went into the theater with the expectations of seeing a thriller, a chilling recount of one of the most terrifying years in the country's history. The gripping fear of a serial killer on the loose was not 'catchy' enough for the screenwriters. They had to throw in one tasteless sex scene after another. I was almost certain I must have wandered into the soft * section accidentally. True, David Berkowitz did stalk couples who were parking. But did we really need to see orgy fests and back seat rendevous to understand that? On the upside, John Leguizamo performed his part with precision. I almost have to wonder if that is a good thing though, considering I left the theater more revolted by his character than the concept of a serial killer running rampant. Don't rent this with high expectations; if you're looking for a good thriller, go rent 'Copycat' again.

When "Summer of Sam" came out, the critics panned it, and I never really got why. Maybe it was because of the unctuous, wise guy feeling that the movie elicited. But considering that the summer of 1999 saw drudgery like "The Phantom Menace" and "Notting Hill", there was really no reason to attack this one. The plot of course looks at New York City during the summer of 1977, when David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz was on a killing spree. Everything is seen through the eyes of hairdresser Vinny (John Leguizamo), an undesirable weirdo if there ever was one. As he often does, Spike Lee - who appears briefly as a reporter - portrays Italian-Americans very negatively (think "Do the Right Thing" and "Jungle Fever"). Well, I'm sure that he has a reason for it. Anyway, this movie is an interesting look at a bygone era (and it does make one a little nostalgic). Also starring Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Esposito, Adrien Brody, Michael Badalucco, Mike Starr, and John Turturro.