Luis - Film review: 25th Hour

Last Christmas I had the chance to watch a movie that a friend had recommended to me for a long time, when we became fans of Mafia movies, specially Scorsese’s. But this time it’s my pleasure to introduce you to a movie by a very different director, starring a great cast.

“25th Hour” is one of the greatest films by independent movie-maker Spike Lee. It’s an entertaining movie, set in present-day New York which tells the story of a friendly businessman (Edward Norton) who actually is a drug dealer, specifically his whole last day of freedom before starting a prison sentence. 

He is a nice guy, as it can be seen from the very first scenes, where he appears happily with his dog, and from the way he talks with people and treats his girlfriend. However, he has friends who are bad guys, as they belong to the Russian Mafia. He should have left the business earlier, but he wished to save money and because of that he was unable to.

Someone has ratted on him and here starts the intriguing part of the movie with the other important characters: his two best friends, a broker (Barry Pepper) and a teacher (Philip Seymour Hoffman), as well as his exotic, beautiful girlfriend (Rosario Dawson). During his last day and night with them he will face the decision about his next step: whether to kill himself, become a fugitive or ‘do time’. 

Anyway, his life will never be the same and one of his friends concludes: “It’s over”. The role of his father, a retired fireman (Brian Cox), is determining; furthermore, he has a slight connection with Ground Zero (9/11) in the movie.

Equally impressive is the final sequence, when the father is supposedly driving him to prison, then talking about his son’s imaginary future life: how he runs away, meets his girlfriend and starts a family. Then the father utters the famous last words that his son will repeat to his own children: “It all came so close to never happening”.

The great strength of this movie is the impressive character of Edward Norton: his brilliant “f* word” monologue in front of the mirror gives us food for thought about both the rules in our society and corruption; the way he ends each sentence - “Fuck everyone!” - is really thought-provoking, as is usually the case in Spike Lee’s directing.

At the end of the day, we’ll believe Edward Norton’s character is more honest than these high-ups who control our lives. Not only is 25th Hour a complex, unusual film - it has no plot, it just tells a 24-hour-long story - but it also tackles real problems in society, such as which drugs should be legal or illegal or who are the greatest criminals, as well as corruption and family. A gripping must-see movie, which I hope you really enjoy!

A good post, Luis, thanks a lot! I've seen bits and pieces of the film myself but I intend to watch it in its entirety over the weekend. I deem Norton and Seymour Hoffman two of the finest American actors of their generation and I cannot emphasize how much I admire the also great Scottish actor Brian Cox, whose work, I believe, has often been underrated. 

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