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01/10/03

2 hrs. 15 mins.
Starring: Edward Norton, Brian Cox, Barry Pepper, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rosario Dawson, Anna Paquin
Directed by: Spike Lee

Rating: *** stars (out of 4 stars)

There are an elite few of contemporary filmmakers that have dared to give their audience a penetrating character study on a consistent basis. Well, the indomitable Spike Lee is certainly one of the fearless moviemakers that fall into this special category. Lee’s latest drama is the challenging and perceptive redemption drama 25th Hour. This polished and intriguing film is the adaptation from screenwriter David Benioff’s stirring novel of the same name. Achingly honest and convincingly powerful in its introspective mode, Lee’s profound and snappy narrative sizzles with gutsy direction that’s aided by the resilient top-notch casting.

There is a distinctive uniqueness and inexplicable poetic dimension to 25th Hour that differs from Lee’s other previous crime-oriented expositions such as Clockers and Summer of Sam. The intensity factor is magnified undoubtedly by its charismatic protagonist Montgomery Brogan (Edward Norton), a seemingly charming and savvy individual. The likeable and privileged Monty has a regrettable mark against him, though. Although he’s blessed with good looks, a posh residence, excellent health, supportive friends and an enticing hot-looking Latin girlfriend named Naturelle Rivera (Rosario Dawson, Men in Black II), the man is a wily career drug dealer. Yes, the smooth and sensible Monty with all the perks in life is nothing but a pusher of poison on the very same Manhattan streets he strolls with noted confidence.

The fascinating aspect about Monty Brogan, we gather, is the puzzling paradoxical nature within this complex man. On one hand, Monty thinks nothing of selling his junk to desperate folks from all walks of life that get high and numb at his expense. Monty would have to be indifferent to his illegal dealings-he’s a “businessman” and is giving his clients what they demand. Yet he’ll turn around and show an ounce of humanity for a damaged dog that was left for dead. The fact that Monty rescued this suffering animal and now has a loyal follower does show that the guy has some redeeming quality. Nevertheless, the confusion exists for a captivating criminal who has caused so much pain (although some would argue he provided pleasure as well) while selfishly benefiting from his drug-dealing endeavors. Monty’s an astute pariah on an impressionable society that gave him his personal power, his purpose for survival. Is he ultimately an effulgent outlaw or a misunderstood anti-hero? Or both?

The reality soon sets in for Monty in the form of comeuppance. The dashing drug hustler is suddenly saddled with a seven-year sentence in the slammer. The contemplative felon has incarceration on his mind and understandably so. Thus, before he does his stretch in the pokey, Monty is treated to some last minute freedom decisions (courtesy of some nifty flashback scenes). He visits and dines with his ex-firefighter/current bar owner father (Brian Cox), a wounded soul that lost many friends in the catastrophic 9/11 events. Monty would then attend a send-off bash at a New York nightclub thrown in his honor by many friends and supporters. Among the attendees are his galpal Naturelle and his two childhood buddies Frank Slattery (Barry Pepper, Knockaround Guys) and Jakob Elinsky (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Love Liza). While the gathering is supposed to be somewhat of an inspirational goodbye for golden boy Monty, it also serves as a therapeutic catharsis for where these characters have been and where they will eventually end up in reference to life’s unknown twisty path. Monty’s imprisonment signifies an end of an era of familiarity and beginning of unseen things to come.

The 25th Hour is essentially a conglomeration of random edgy thoughts and feelings being stirred in a pot of overflowing stew about to spill its explosive contents. Lee is masterful when he stages his tantalizing characterizations with an irreverent forcefulness that’s both gleefully impish and brutally blunt. This movie is brimming with stinging anxiety and features an unpredictable dosage of hostility that brings the dramatic proceedings to an instant boil. Interestingly enough, Lee is able to convey the massive self-doubt and noted cynicism relating to the 9/11 tragic sentiments and parallel the post-traumatic forethought into his players’ indelible psyche. Much like the 9/11 devastation that eventually gave birth to the existence of Ground Zero, lead antagonist Monty was brought down unceremoniously in a haste but now has to repair himself with time in hopes of standing up for what once was a stimulating livelihood.

Lee’s provocative fable is a real exploration of ambivalence within our individual makeup and the tendencies that we lean toward when the concept of uncertainty seem vastly overwhelming. Again, the rawness of this particular “Spike Lee Joint” is in the in-depth delicious performances. Norton is remarkably dazzling as the conflicted substance-abuse supplier who’s forced to come to terms with his dubious deeds. Lee is shrewd to make his suave but flawed leading man pay the price for his deceptive urges. And obviously Monty Brogan is at fault for the ill-advised judgments that he’s made along the way. When the critical key moment arises in his father’s bar’s bathroom where Monty stares ominously at the mirror and proceeds to bad-mouth almost every ethnic group and lifestyle via his own vicious ranting and raving session, you sit there in amazement contemplating how this cunning cad can blame everybody for his misfortune but himself. But then again, the self-serving and self-indulgence of Monty’s agenda tells us how his resiliency got him as far as it did. It also is very telling on what a ball of fury this guy really is. Yeah, he’s arrogant but appropriately frustrated and perplexed about his predicament. The verbal assault put on by Norton’s Monty Brogan is divisive and memorable and will definitely recall his resounding tirade as the acid-tongued racist Derek Vineyard in American History X.

The supporting players are given a healthy piece of the pie to bite into as well. Both Pepper and Hoffman marvelously balance off the hidden anger and bewilderment of Norton’s tortured Brogan. As Wall Street whiz kid Frank Slattery, Pepper is exuberant and joyously icy as the egotistical know-it-all who refreshingly feels that his pal Monty got what he deserves for his involvement with the seedy side of drug trafficking. Like his friend Monty, Frank has a selfish side that puts his colorful personality into perspective. He cares about Monty and in some respects feels guilty about his comrade’s current dilemma. But Frank’s motto is such that if you do the crime, you gotta do the time! And of course Hoffman does his effective trademark bit as the sad sack loser with the deep-seated neurosis. In his portrayal of Jakob Elinsky, a burnt-out high school teacher who leads an unfulfilling life, Hoffman brings along his usual reliable range as an anti-social outcast in search of meaning. Poor Jakob pales in comparison to his more successful and flashy amigos Monty and Frank. However, something does finally happen to Jakob that may very well liven things up. The temptation that enters his dull period comes in the form of an outgoing Lolita-type peppy student named Mary (played by the Oscar-winning Anna Paquin, The Piano). Is she really interested in an involvement with the dumpy instructor or is this a perversely cruel joke to pass the time away as a vindictive tart? And Dawson, who is as radiant as ever, doesn’t have much to contribute here other than to perfectly play the trophy chick for Norton’s beleaguered alter ego.

The 25th Hour is an embodiment of everything intrinsic from a human level: relationships, life’s unsuspecting choices, concept of morality and integrity, our trepidation and overall value system. Lee has supplied us with stimulating fodder before that unsparingly took us into the depths of issues dealing with swept-under-the-rug subject matters such as the tricky dialogue on race relations and sexual politics. But he’s just as formidable, resourceful and passionate about delivering a timely message to the lingering response of post 9/11disillusionment and the hint of freedom that most of us take for granted.