Parents of the victims of David Berkowitz are angry that Lee is bringing back painful memories, while Berkowitz himself has reportedly protested his being a character in the film. Lee argues that the use of the Son of Sam killings in New York during the summer of 1977 is merely a backdrop.

Lee has a strong case, for what Summer of Sam is really about is mood, the feel of a city on the verge and a small group of people who get swept up in it without really knowing what's going on. Disco is big, the punk scene is rumbling, and AIDS is unheard of. But, for these characters, something unseen is around the corner -- it could be a killer with a .44, or it could be a whole lifetime of bad decisions waiting to catch up with them.

Vincent (John Leguizamo) is a sharply dressed hairdresser who proudly parades around with his wife Dionna (Mira Sorvino) and then screws around on her. His guilt drives him to believe that the serial killer Son of Sam is after him. Meanwhile, his buddies have made up a possible list of suspects, and number-one on the list is Ritchie (Adrien Brody), who dares to return to the old neighborhood with a punk hairdo and a fake English accent.

Lee, never one for a light touch, wants to make sure you catch his drift. He intersperses the primary plotline with scenes of Berkowitz cowering and howling in madness, goes for the truly obvious by placing the neighborhood friends in front of a dead-end sign, and, at about a third of the way through, uses a long vignette of city-at-large scenes to sum up the atmosphere. The appearance of a talking dog may be a signal that Lee is losing his sense of humor -- or that he really likes the Babe movies.