25TH HOUR
Released: December 19, 2002
Spike Lee has a knack for exploring the microcosm. In movies like "Do The Right Thing", "Clockers" and "Son Of Sam" Lee takes a specific group of people and follows them for a short time period. He captures the subtlties of the character's lives in a way that only he can pull off. "25th Hour" is the story of a guy dealing drugs and ends up getting ratted out by someone in his circle. Edward Norton plays the druglord. But the first thing we hear as the Touchstone logo plays at the start of the movie is a dog enduring a horrible beating. We are then taken to the scene on the side of the road where Norton and an associate drive by the beaten dog and decide to help him. He nurses the dog back to health and keeps him as a loving, healthy pet. Norton's character is a good man overall, but hindered by his greed as a result of the growing drug money income. When caught, he is sentenced to 7 years in a very bad, overcrowded prison. He has one day left to see all his friends and say his goodbyes. This movie captures a lot of friendship truths that rang true for me along with the way greed and corruption can get under your skin easier than you thought. The friends of Norton's character all have their own demons to work with. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a high school English teacher who is falling head over heels for one of his 16 year old students (Anna Paquin, very much grown up here). Barry Pepper is the Wall Street stock trader who achieves riches by selling people stocks they don't need. Rosario Dawson plays Norton's girlfriend who knows about the druglord day job yet stays and enjoys the money. Brian Cox plays Norton's father, who'd help his son escape the law to protect him. Lee is careful to not preach to his audience. Rather, he lets them find themselves in his stories. He is another one of these rare directors that respects the characters, writing AND the audience in a very high regard. He also is concerned about releasing quality movies and "25th Hour" is added to his already impressive list of films.
134 Minutes
Touchstone/Buena Vista