film: review

> 25TH HOUR (2002)
Spike Lee's best film (or "joint") in awhile.

By John C. Lyons
Film Critic

Starring: Edward Norton, Barry Pepper, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rosario Dawson

Directed by: Spike Lee

Written by: David Benioff (novel)
David Benioff (screenplay)

Genre: Drama

Our Rating: 9/10

On the surface, 25th Hour is about one man's last day of freedom before he goes in the serve a seven year jail sentence for drug-dealing. But director Spike Lee does a great job weaving in each major character with just enough screen time and background story so their perspectives open up lots of added clarity and drama for their own parallel stories and the main story itself. The film occurs in the post 9/11 New York, and from the opening titles to the end, the destruction of the landscape and people's lives is always there in the background.

Ed Norton plays Monty, the man who the DEA caught with drugs in his apartment, and who, because of the harsh Rockefeller laws, must serve the mandatory seven year jail term. Ed Norton, Rosario Dawson, Hoffman, and Pepper (along with Brian Cox and Anna Paquin) play their roles to the best of their abilities. This is a very talented cast. If I had a vote I would place Norton easily in the running for a best actor nod in 2002. His character knows what he did wrong, and he sees going to prison as his ultimate ending, where he will be raped and killed.

25th Hour pulls no punches. Monty, his girlfriend, father, and two best friends are each very likable characters, and even though they have obvious flaws, you feel compassion for each of them. The film makes strong statements against the drug laws in NYC which I had no idea of before seeing it here. There are several, great stand-out scenes, including one where Monty looks in the mirror of a restroom spewing profanities about every nationality and group of people you could imagine; it's strong stuff, which becomes even the more stronger when he then speaks about himself. 25th Hour is a great film all-around.

I saw this film at the Tinseltown theaters on upper Peach Street in Erie.

PROs: The story, characters, the powerful ending.

CONs: Hmmmmm, some may be turned away from the underlying statements the film makes about the Rockefeller laws. And it is a Spike Lee film, so if you are one to tire of his racial rants, or aren't ready for the World Trade Center backdrops you should probably avoid this one.

(03-0202)

related links:

25th Hour - official site