One of the more entertaining and thought-provoking Spike Lee Joints in a long while.
25th Hour (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:161
Fresh:125
Rotten:36
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: An intelligent and well-acted film despite the usual Spike Lee excesses.
Runtime: 2 hrs 15 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Spike Lee's bracing adaptation of David Benioff's novel is a vibrant, vital motion picture. Edward Norton plays Monty Brogan, a harmless drug dealer who has 24 hours of freedom before serving a... Spike Lee's bracing adaptation of David Benioff's novel is a vibrant, vital motion picture. Edward Norton plays Monty Brogan, a harmless drug dealer who has 24 hours of freedom before serving a seven-year jail sentence. Nervous, confused, and terrified, Monty turns to his closest friends for support: Frank Slattery (Barry Pepper), a cocky stockbroker who resents Monty for throwing his life away; Jakob Elinsky (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a hapless high school teacher who is attracted to one of his students (Anna Paquin); and Monty's heartbroken father (Brian Cox), who blames himself for Monty's demise. And then there is Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), Monty's beautiful girlfriend, who may or may not be guilty of ratting Monty out to the cops. Monty spends his last day trying to ignore the inevitability of time, but everyone and everything only reminds him of the bleak, unpromising days that lay ahead. With 25TH HOUR, Spike Lee revisits the fiery territory of 1989's DO THE RIGHT THING. Frustrated by Hollywood's cold shoulder toward the tragedy of September 11th, Lee attacks the subject with fervor, resulting in a film that brilliantly captures the mood and atmosphere in New York City in the months following the attack. The film features stellar contributions from composer Terence Blanchard, cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, and Lee's ensemble cast. [More]
Starring: Edward Norton, Brian Cox, Anna Paquin, Barry Pepper
Starring: Edward Norton, Brian Cox, Anna Paquin, Barry Pepper, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rosario Dawson
Director: Spike Lee
Director: Spike Lee
Screenwriter: David Benioff
Producer: Julia Chasman, Tobey Maguire, Jon Kilik, Spike Lee
Composer: Terence Blanchard
Studio: Touchstone Pictures
Reviews for 25th Hour
While 25th Hour has a several arresting characters struggling with credible problems, regrettably Monty isn't one of them.
It's about a feeling of clutching at nothing, having that specific sort of stressed sensation that comes about in a situation that sucks but simply cannot be changed.
Superbly acted and impressively directed, it’s a moving study of loss and responsibility in post-9/11 New York.
The more Lee tries to force pathos from his plight, the more misguided the film becomes.
The final act moves the film from a gentle drama to a chilling cautionary tale about personal responsibility.
Lee successfully, seamlessly marries his famously inventive visual style with more introspective material.
Lee builds Monty’s story of tortured introspection and his final surprising, desperate act before incarceration through boldly candid conversations and flashbacks.
'Spike Lee's love of New York, unlike Woody Allen's, has always been more tough than tender.'
Lee's best, most cohesive and most passionate film since Do the Right Thing.
25th Hour stands out as a remarkably atmospheric and elegiac American film, every scene heavy with the stillness of tragedy.'
In its own strange way [the film is] uplifting, a tribute to people's ability to face the unthinkable, and, if not triumph, at least persevere.
25th Hour is both Spike Lee’s condemnation of and valentine to what we’ve done before, but also a strangely inspiring reminder of how beautiful the mere opportunity to choose can be.
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