25th Hour
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Movie Reviews of 25th Hour
Movie Review: One of Lee's best
Summary: 5 Stars
Spike Lee has some great gifts as a film maker. One is his ability to create chracters the audience can identify with and the other is to make the setting a character unto itself. 25th Hour was one of the first films shot in post 9/11 New York. Lee makes full use of this, showing how one city can play a big role in people's lives.
But 25th Hour is not about 9/11. 25th Hour is about friendship. It is about redemption. It is about uncertainty in the future. The film stars Edward Norton as a generally good man who unfortunately engaged in illegal activity and got caught. The film takes place on the final day before he is to serve his sentence and flashes back to the moments that led to his fate. We find him accepting of his fate, only questioning who and what led him to this moment. There is a brilliantly directed, much discussed scene where Norton is cursing the people of NYC, his friends, then finally himself as he stares at a reflection in a mirror. This is one of the single greatest scenes that define a character within a film.
This film has a brilliant script that focuses heavily not only on Norton, but two of his contrasting friends, played brilliantly by Barry Pepper and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Pepper is a sly Wall Street man who tries to be slick and even has an equation for his likelihood of success with women. Hoffman, in an untypically subtle understated performance, plays a shy seemingly shameful teacher. He serves as a counterbalance to Pepper. The way these two characters discuss themselves and their friend help define 25th Hour as a beautiful character piece.
This film's defining theme of an uncertain future is emphasized by the post 9/11 backdrop. One telling scene involves Hoffman and Pepper talking about Norton's possible future while we stare out Ground Zero in a window behind them. An uncertain future indeed...
Movie Review: Spike Lee's Near Perfect Hour
Summary: 5 Stars
All of the things Lee is criticized and raked over the coals for is precisely what makes The 25th Hour such a masterful film.
When a director of obvious intellect develop his own highly personal and obvious style it bothers people. However, being bashed in the head isn't such a bad thing when it's done with such artistic expression and style. You have to want it, otherwise the "Leeisms" will become enough of an annoyance that one simply cannot enjoy the film. Park your prejudice and Lee frustrations at the door, however, and you're in for a noble, enlightening film that you cannot help being moved by.
I don't understand all the complaints about the "race rant" in the men's room. Some complain that it has nothing to do with the story - or it's poorly placed in the picture. I can't think of a better place for it and feel the scene is placed there to do exactly what it does (for those who get it): shock and disturb - a jolting dose of reality and Norton's delivery of this monologue is as pungent as a Shakespearean soliloquy. This was the first scene I felt the tears welling up in my eyes as I recognized myself - and everyone else in the world (yes, you over there).
The entire cast felt as though they'd been performing their roles onstage 8 shows a week, so perfect was the ensemble unity.
Lee touches on so many issues in the microcosm that is New York, but that microcosm becomes universal.
The penultimate scene is visionary, all dressed in white, and bathed in dreamlike light leading into the sobering reality of the finale. Lee makes the inevitable ending not only bearable, but believable and Norton's unusual protagonist becomes honorable.
A beautiful movie filled with hope. Glorious filmmaking by an American master.
Movie Review: In my Top 5
Summary: 5 Stars
The 25th Hour is the best movie I've seen all year. I'm sure you're at least familiar with the plot, so I'll talk about the performances. Edward Norton, one of the most talented young actors of our day, gives a performance that should be remembered as one of his two best to date (the other being American History X). He plays Monty Brogan, convicted as a drug dealer and sentenced to seven years. The movie is his last day of freedom. It shows his fruitless attempts to relax and enjoy his last night of freedom with his friends. He is one of the most tragic characters in recent years. Tragic in the true sense of the word, because all tragic characters make some attempts to redeem themselves, and failing that, ultimately accept the consequences of their actions. Although we never see Monty arrive at the prison, we can see his vacant stare at the last highway exit before the jail, as he passes it.Every character plays their part to perfection, Philip Seymour Hoffman in particular. He is fast becoming one of my favorites, and is perfect as the very socially inept high school teacher. Barry Pepper, another favorite actor of mine since 'Saving Private Ryan', is amazing. But the true star here is Edward Norton. Words alone cannot describe Edward Norton's abilities. His Monty Brogan is plagued with the struggle to determine who turned him in and whether or not to report to prison. You can see, in every moment Monty has to himself, the internal debate as to whether he should go willingly to jail or run. It is probably Norton's most confilcted character yet, and maybe his most difficult. He even starts lashing out at his friends because he's trying to make his leaving easier by alienating his only friends, and it is heartrending to see.
Subtle, slow, and bordering on heartbreaking, 25th Hour should be on everyone's 'must see' list.
Movie Review: Squeezing sentiment out of a jaded man
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading many of the reviews and sharing a wary feeling about Spike Lee's frequent sledgehammer approach to subject matter I was genuinely touched by 25th Hour. The acting is superb with Norton and cast running with the script and to his credit Spike Lee helping to get these three dimensional performances.All the ballyhoo over 9.11 and it's unnecessary backdrop misses the point. Those that think it detracts from 25th Hour say there is no point to adding the footage but as a counterpoint to several segments of the film the idea works without getting too heavy handed. There are a few moments of United States nationalism which may not play well to some but it's heartfelt, not manipulative.
The other critiques about Edward Norton being run through similar situations from Fight Club and American History X ring hollow. The narrative for one of the comparisons is very similar to the book, that Norton did a similar monolog as a different character in another film is blaming the film for how the adaptation of the book was made. Perhaps a fair critisim but within this story in this film the critisim speaks more of some viewer's dislike for the director. In this case blame it on the author/screenwriter if you must. The motivations are different and what the audience gets from the scene has no similarity. In the scene compared to Fight Club, again, there are different motivations and meanings. The comparison isn't valid.
As a fairly jaded urban dweller 25th hour, a film that doesn't have much of a linear story, is still gripping with it's portraits of people who make decisions and the effects they have upon themselves and others. As a character study 25th Hour is a success. The closing scene is both heartbreaking and reflective. It is a nice coda to the film's story and a excellent ending as well.
Movie Review: It's a fabulous movie - but you've got to be in the mood
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie, Spike Lee's latest offering, is essentially his offering to New York as a parting gift. If you allow yourself to be immersed in the movie then you'll find yourself overtaken by it. The colours, the characters, the story, the pace, the music - all are brilliantly balanced by the director to make this one of the best movies to come out of 2002.The characters that Lee (and the writer of the screenplay, whose name I've forgotten) presents are complex and human. Just like in real life, nobody here is clear-cut, everyone has greater depths than are first seen and it's hard to determine who you sympathize with and who to blame. The performances are all, without exception, excellent.
The story, simply put, is a character-based drama. It's about Monty (Ed Norton) and his way of dealing with the fact that he's about to go to prison for 7 years and there's a whole bunch of people and things that he's never going to see again. The movie is about how this affects him, his friends, his business partners (he deals drugs) and his girlfriend.
The DVD's special features include some deleted scenes (most of which were appropriately deleted, in my opinion), a montage of Ground Zero (about 8 minutes long), a short biography of Spike Lee which is informative and to the point (22 minutes long) and commentary tracks by Spike Lee and the writer of the book and the screenplay (I haven't listened to these yet so I can't tell you what I think of them).
It's a really worthwhile movie and one that, if you enjoy it, you'll want to watch again in a month or two as there are definitely scenes that stand out more once you're not obliged to follow the plot too closely.
Highly recommended; but don't plan on being in a particularly jovial mood afterwards.