Do the Right Thing (1989)

Spike Lee wrote, directed and plays Mookie, the delivery man at Sal's pizzeria in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and the film still puts its title question to every audience that sees it. Over one hot summer day, small grievances about respect, ownership and policing build toward a decision people have argued about ever since. Lee gives Sal, Mookie and the whole block enough humanity that nobody in the room can settle the argument by picking a villain, which is exactly what makes the discussion afterward so productive.