25th Hour

After receiving a seven-year conviction for drug dealing, Monty Brogan (Norton) has twenty-four hours left before he has to go to prison. Having only one day of freedom, Monty decides to reflect on what got him to this situation and what is important to him. Sharing his remaining time with his life long friends, Jacob (Hoffman) and Francis (Pepper), this girlfriend Naturelle (Dawson), his dog and his father (Cox), Monty starts to realise what he is about to lose.

Director Spike Lee brings us his best movie in years, by utilising the current feeling of America, post September 11th 2001.

This is a powerful, thought provoking piece that is grounded in redemption, fear and accepting responsibility for your own indiscretions. It reflects Monty's life choices past, present and future. He can run, take a bullet and end it all or take his punishment and reflect on the reasons why he received it. All of this runs parallel to what American was thinking post 9/11, with Monty's situation and predicament is metaphoric of the USA dilemma of how it should react to the events in New York.

As you'd expect from a Spike Lee movie, the cast is superb. Edward Norton proves again that when he is given a well-written script, he is the finest actor of his generation. His character shows the worst and most tender sides of humanity. All the while he is peddling his drugs and living the lavish lifestyle that it can bring, he still has compassion for a wounded dog and gives money to the homeless. Norton captures the fear, anger and finally acceptance of the character masterfully.

The ensemble also has great performances from the always-exceptional Phillip Seymour Hoffman as a teacher obsessed with one of his pupils, played in devilish jailbait form by Anna Paquin and the underrated Barry Pepper, as an over confident Wall Street broker. Rosario Dawson shows she is an upcoming actress to watch and Brian Cox brings a bit of class to the picture with another fine American accent.

Based on the novel by David Benioff, Spike Lee has taken the core of the story and inserted into a time that shock the very foundations of his beloved home city. While he does tend to overemphasize the point in some parts with the slight overuse of a patriotic score and even a scene overlooking Ground Zero, the movie's underlying story rings true as it is Monty's predicament that parallels America and New York having to reassess how the rest of the world sees them.

The movie is also Spike Lee's most inventive. His use of different camera techniques and sound, especially in the nightclub scenes is superb. From extreme close-ups, to the use of different filters for flashback sequences, Lee expands his presentation portfolio to produce a visual and audible feast. There are some outstanding scenes like Monty's assessment of the current state of New York and Jacob's fall from grace but the movie does tend to overstate itself in the final act.

This is a slow moving, character driven piece that has a profound message of redemption and responsibility for your own actions running all the way through it. It is a human and global story that is beautifully shot and superbly acted.

PICTURE & SOUND

The movie is presented in Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. As with most modern transfers of recent films, the picture and sound quality are superb. The exuberant colours and deep, perfect blacks bring Spike Lee's New York to life during the day and night scenes. The Dolby Digital track is also extremely good coming into its own during the nightclub scenes, as the cavalcade of musical beats come at you from every direction accompanied by the heavy rhythm of the constant bass. The dialogue is also crystal clear, which is a must for any character driven piece.

BONUS FEATURES

Evolution of an American Filmmaker (22.21 mins)
A reflective look at the outstanding career of director Spike Lee. From his breakout movie "She's gotta have it" to his most recent "25th Hour", stars and friends like Denzel Washington, Martin Scorsese, Halle Berry, Sydney Lumet, Wesley Snipes, Rosie Perez and John Turturro talk Spike and how his has influenced their careers and American cinema. Spike himself talks about his motivations and influences and why 25th Hour needed to reflect how the events of September 11th 2001 had affected his beloved city of New York.

Deleted Scenes (10.17 mins)
Six scenes entitled 'Sway', 'Little Odessa', 'Naturelle, Mom and Monty', 'Party Plans', 'Sneaking in Mary' and 'Mary's death scene' were cut from the movie and with five of them you can see why. It would have been nice for a director's commentary to have been included to explain why these scenes were removed, especially the entertaining and visual scene 'Sway'.

Ground Zero (5.32 mins)
Poignant and haunting images of Ground Zero, the site where the World Trade Centre once stood before the fateful day in September 2001.

Director's commentary
25th Hour helmer and acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee talks about every aspect of the movie. From his influences to casting and locations to the story itself, the director covers every detail of the movie making experience. He talking in length about the different camera and editing techniques his used throughout the movie and he also talks passionately about the city he loves, New York. He also reflects on the relevance of the story and the connection to a city recovering from the events of 9/11. The commentary is one for people who are intrigued about the filmmaking process and getting an insight into the vision of this great director.

Writer's Commentary
Book and screenplay writer David Benioff talks about adapting his own book for the screen and the differences between the screenplay and the original novel. We find out that both the book and the original screenplay where written before the events of September 11th and it was Spike Lee who suggested incorporating it into a new draft. Benioff also reveals that both he and Lee encouraged improvisation from the cast in certain scenes as they got to know the motivations of their characters. The commentary is slightly different from the usual; as we learn more about the writing process and the main influences behind the movie, making this an interesting listen.

OVERALL

The two commentaries and the Spike Lee featurette only add to the excellence of 25th Hour. I would have liked to have seen more behind the scenes footage from the film and a few more cast interviews but there is more than enough here to please any fan of the movie, the cast or the director. This is a quality, character-driven drama that deserves to be part of anyone's collection.

DVD

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2003