Summer Of Sam

Jet, July 19, 1999 by Sylvia P. Flanagan

Touchstone Pictures presents A 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks Production, A Spike Lee Joint, Summer Of Sam. Spike Lee goes into the throbbing heart of the Bronx during an unbelievable summer to paint a portrait that is rather intimate and panoramic. Dubbed "Son of Sam" by the tabloids, a killer turned the summer of 1977 into the Summer Of Sam.

It didn't get any hotter than the summer of 1977 in New York City. As temperatures soar well into the hundreds for endless days, the city is seared by its own heat, sweat and energy. With the unrelenting swelter, things start to change in the city, and it makes everybody a little tense and crazy. Looters pour into the streets as a blackout plunges New York into darkness and fear, and a mysterious psychopath is gunning down strangers in the night at random. The .44-caliber killer terrorizes the city with a steady streak of grisly slayings. Starring John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Esposito, Anthony LaPaglia, BeBe Neuwirth, Patti LuPone, Ben Gazzara, John Savage, Michael Badalucco, Michael Rispoli, Roger Guenveur Smith, Saverio Guerra, Brian Tarantina and Arthur Nascarella with director/writer/producer Spike Lee.