`SUMMER OF SAM' CAPTURES '77.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

Spike Lee's latest New York social study, ``Summer of Sam,'' finds the director outside of his usual Harlem and Bed-Stuy stomping grounds. But in the most important way, he's right at home, poking into the dysfunctions and frustrations of Bronx Italian-Americans, and examining how their tightly knit community affects their behavior.

Although set during the overheated July of 1977 when the serial killer Son of Sam was terrorizing the outer boroughs, the movie's focus is on a working-class neighborhood. David Berkowitz's depredations are depicted, but not exploited; the primary role of the killings is to increase tensions that are just waiting to boil over between people who've known one another all their lives.

Lee, who reworked a semi-autobiographical script by Victor Colicchio and fellow actor Michael Imperioli, builds the movie around two troubled young couples. Vinny and Dionna, played by John Leguizamo and Mira Sorvino, are disco-dancing marrieds whose expertise on the dance floor does not extend to their bedroom.

Ritchie (Adrien Brody), Vinny's best friend since childhood, has returned to the neighborhood all spike-haired and English-accented after a stay in the East Village. He's soon taking up with Ruby (Jennifer Esposito), the local girl with a reputation, who's about the only homey who appreciates - let alone even comprehends - Ritchie's urge to be different.

These folks have big problems. Vinny suffers from a serious madonna-whore complex, and he cheats on Dionna rather than ask her to fulfill his hardly outrageous carnal desires. By chance, Vinny barely escapes Sam's wrath while fooling around with Dionna's Italian cousin. When he finds out about the close call, Vinny begins spiraling down a vortex of drug abuse and Catholic guilt.

Ritchie's dreams of punk music stardom proceed slowly and unprofitably, and he turns a few tricks to make ends meet. Even before they find out about this, Joey T (Michael Rispoli) and the Guys Who Hang Out at the End of the Street are pretty unhappy that their old buddy has become so . . . well, different. As Sam-inspired hysteria rises, these guys find a welcome outlet for their rage. Their list of possible suspects grows to include anybody who doesn't conform.

Unlike Lee's superficially similar masterpiece ``Do the Right Thing,'' ``Summer of Sam'' busts out of the neighborhood for a wider sociological survey of the city at the time. Lee himself plays a television reporter who not only describes the search for Sam, but such other key incidents as the heat wave blackout and Reggie Jackson's triumphant Yankees season.

Ultimate New Yorker Jimmy Breslin, the newspaper columnist whom Berkowitz wrote to during his spree, narrates bookending sequences. Various Gotham characters, from the paternalistc mob boss (Ben Gazarra) to the middle-age crooner (Mike Star), texturize the piece.

We enter the punk palace, CBGB's, and don't get past the doorman at Studio 54 (Vinny and Dionna do attend an orgy at Plato's Retreat, which, of course, is the last thing that their relationship needs). Superb music selections, from ``Who's Next?'' to ``Fernando,'' capture the cultural tensions of the time, and Ruth E. Carter's costume designs are the first in many a movie to make the disco look seem as glamorously attractive as it was silly.

All in all, Lee has captured the era in convincing detail. But even with that and crackling good ensemble acting - led by Leguizamo's thoroughly humane portrayal of a stupid man struggling with inner demons that will always outsmart him - the movie never quite achieves the soul-searing intensity it should. After all, it's about people misdirecting their passions, whether hateful and loving, in the midst of a shared, unfolding tragedy. That's powerful stuff, and we don't always feel it.

Nevertheless, ``Summer of Sam'' never fails to address its very big agenda with intelligence, sensitivity and craftsmanship of the highest order. Yes, it will be controversial, like many of Lee's films. But it also should stand as one of his most insightful and compassionate.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Summer of Sam'' (R; sex, violence, language, drug use, nudity).

The stars: John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Esposito.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Spike Lee. Written by Victor Colicchio, Michael Imperioli and Lee. Produced by Jon Kilik and Lee. Released by Touchstone Pictures.

Running time: Two hours, 16 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three stars.

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Photo

Photo: Ruby (Jennifer Esposito) and Ritchie (Adrien Brody) discover punk rock in ``Summer of Sam.''