25th Hour (2002)
In an effort to bring light to what I feel is an one of the more underrated films from Spike Lee, director of Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, and other fine pieces of work I shall review the 25th Hour. Adapted from the novel by the author, David Benioff translated this character study. A drug dealer changes his life in 24 hours, realizing his past mistakes, seeking a self-redemption.
Montgomery Brogan (Edward Norton), an Irish kid from Bay Ridge went to an academy on scholarship, where he began dealing pot to kids in the high school. A dream to live well, and own courtside seats at Madison Square Garden pushed Monty deeper into his criminal dealings. Caught in act by the DEA, Monty is sentenced to seven years.
The film opens with Monty saving an injured, burned dog. Here in his last 24 hours, we learn that saving that dog is one of the only truly good things that Monty did in his spiral downward. In the present day, Monty takes a walk through those people important to him, his Father (Brian Cox), his girlfriend Naturalle (Rosario Dawson), and friends, English Teacher Jacob Elinsky (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and hot shot Wall-Street player Frank Slattery (Barry Pepper).
True in Spike Lee's style, there's a big story underneath the skin of this film. His theme in Do the Right Thing, was race relations between the left over Italians in a now predominately black community. 25th Hour is Lee's ode to the city, post-9/11. It is such a subtle tribute, that it is not in your face, but you can see, the people have changed because of the tragedy. In a memorable scene, the camera cranes slightly above Hoffman and Pepper, revealing the clean-up of Ground Zero below, and the icing on the cake, the magnificent score by Terence Blanchard.
The film is polished, and to paraphrase a quote Spike Lee used himself in an interview for his upcoming Inside Man, Kurosawa, at 85, said there was still a lot he needed to learn about making films. Spike Lee, like all other great directors, is always growing.
Montgomery Brogan (Edward Norton), an Irish kid from Bay Ridge went to an academy on scholarship, where he began dealing pot to kids in the high school. A dream to live well, and own courtside seats at Madison Square Garden pushed Monty deeper into his criminal dealings. Caught in act by the DEA, Monty is sentenced to seven years.
The film opens with Monty saving an injured, burned dog. Here in his last 24 hours, we learn that saving that dog is one of the only truly good things that Monty did in his spiral downward. In the present day, Monty takes a walk through those people important to him, his Father (Brian Cox), his girlfriend Naturalle (Rosario Dawson), and friends, English Teacher Jacob Elinsky (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and hot shot Wall-Street player Frank Slattery (Barry Pepper).
True in Spike Lee's style, there's a big story underneath the skin of this film. His theme in Do the Right Thing, was race relations between the left over Italians in a now predominately black community. 25th Hour is Lee's ode to the city, post-9/11. It is such a subtle tribute, that it is not in your face, but you can see, the people have changed because of the tragedy. In a memorable scene, the camera cranes slightly above Hoffman and Pepper, revealing the clean-up of Ground Zero below, and the icing on the cake, the magnificent score by Terence Blanchard.
The film is polished, and to paraphrase a quote Spike Lee used himself in an interview for his upcoming Inside Man, Kurosawa, at 85, said there was still a lot he needed to learn about making films. Spike Lee, like all other great directors, is always growing.
posted by Vatche at 6:43 AM
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