The one sympathetic character in 25th Hour turns out to be the city about to benefit from the absence of this lowlife drug dealer.
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
Theatrical Release:Dec 19, 2002 Limited
Box Office: $12,750,480
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
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Release:
May 20, 2003
Reviews for 25th Hour
All of Lee's worst traits are on display, including a snail-slow narrative, inept editing, nonexistent continuity, shameless overacting, unresolved subplots, soap-box sermonizing and ridiculous character names.
Lee overloads a featherweight story with pretentious subtext and showy technique.
Lee is in pretty good form in 25th Hour, and the film, while not a thunderbolt, is a welcome surprise.
The movie hums with a vibrant energy, which is powered by the terrific ensemble cast and the glowing cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto.
The leads' whinings, insignificant self-examinations and moanings about lost opportunities don't add up to a movie.
The film doesn't reach a climax per se. But it's not conventionally inert, either.
I want my Spike Lee movies to be Spike Lee movies, with all the edge-walking and vitriol and discursive jams that go nowhere that that involves
While 25th Hour is not a flawless movie, it packs a powerful wallop, thanks to the awe-inspiring Mr. Norton and his ever-artful director.
The movie resonates precisely because it serves as documentary only pretending to be fiction.
A fairy godmother isn't going to show up at the end and make it all better, but the story keeps you guessing what's next.
If there was ever a filmmaker in need of someone who could tell him where and when to stop, what to leave in and what to take out, it would be Spike Lee.
Latest News for 25th Hour
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