25th Hour (2002)

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25th Hour(2002)

Anti-heroism in modern setting

Somebody owes Spike Lee a big apology.

It could be the multitude of disgruntled whites who claim Lee's films do nothing more than point fingers at America's WASP community; it could be America's black population who feel Lee is short-changing the black community by exhibiting internal racial strife.

It could even be anyone mad that Tobey Maguire didn't get to play the leading role, as originally planned.

But whoever said all Lee portrays in his films is a bunch of pissed off ethnic groups was out to lunch. While present in 25th Hour, such racial tensions hardly take front seat. This is an in-depth look at humanity itself and our own tendencies to look both ahead and behind in our lives without paying direct attention to the immediate.

Edward Norton is Montgomery Brogan, a drug dealer convicted of trafficking and facing seven years in prison, with just one day of freedom left before sentencing. In a fit of attempted Epicureanism, he manages to shag his friends together for one last night on the town while simultaneously coming to grips with the life he is leaving behind, the life he left behind for the wrong road, and the potential life ahead of him. His lifetime friends Frank (Barry Pepper), a Wall Street shark only barely aware of his own loss of morality, and Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an English teacher toeing the pedophilic line with a manipulative student (Anna Paquin), all have their own issues that both reenforce and redirect the emphasis on Brogan's own failings. Brogan's girlfriend Naturel (Rosario Dawson), who may or may not have been the one responsible for his imprisonment, serves a similar function in that her own attempts to divert Brogan from his suicidal course either failed miserably, or never took place at all. She did, after all, as Frank points out, enjoy every pound of the bacon Brogan brought home "from other people's misery."

The film opens with Brogan saving a beaten dog from death, reminding us that it's the immediate actions that make the most difference. "Saving that damn dog was the best thing I ever did in my life," Brogan says. "Every day he lives is because of me." Likewise, every minute of the twenty-five hours Brogan has left for himself is because of his lack of action--getting out of the drug business--and despite his early frenzied attempts to find a patsy, he ultimately blames himself, thus making his fate even more chilling. Brogan's Homeric journey through New York (portrayed in stunning post-9/11 cinematography complete with direct shots of Ground Zero) takes him through his past as a high school star athelete and son to a drunken but loving father (Brian Cox, cast to perfection). Through cleverly installed flashbacks, Brogan's minute choices are delivered right alongside the benefits of the life he's been living, and the more that is shown, the more precarious the secondary characters' fates seem. By the end of the evening, Jacob is in over his head with his student and Frank has made a promise to do "whatever it takes" to help Monty out, a promise rather dubious given Frank's materialistic mentality.

What truly raises this film above its base level is the characters' complexity. Every single one of them is memorable both because of their connection to Brogan and their own appeal. New York City itself is a leading character, showing cause and effect as clearly as the dog's bloodied and battered body at the film's beginning. The conclusion gives a nice little "what if" spin to the story, but on a symbolic level, it underscores the essence of Brogan's search to find both value and hope in his current existence. All in all, a superb piece of work.

-Long