Review of 25th Hour (2002) by Gihyun B — 27 Oct 2009
A movie about brotherhood and life in New York City after 9/11. It starts out okay but it completely drags in the second half. The central character is played by Edward Norton, it's revealed early on that he's going to jail. It's all a very thinly veiled metaphor for New York City's loss of innocence after 9/11. Life will go after he gets back from jail or so most of his closest friends think. "Don't forget where you're from", blah blah blah.
The characters are New York City tough guy cliches. The thug played by Norton, the Russian thug who struggles with English. The girlfriend played by Rosario Dawson wasn't very convincing.
The only character I really liked was the one played by Phillip Seymor Hoffman and he was underused and pretty much a B-plot character. His relationship with a young student of his had little to do with the plot and nothing to do with Norton.
By the end there's a long rambling speech by Norton's on screen father about how he will rise up and come back. It's pretty much all about NYC and what will happen afterward. I guess Spike Lee et al didn't expect an illegal war that would last decades to follow 2 years later.
This review of 25th Hour (2002) was written by Gihyun B on 27 Oct 2009.
25th Hour has generally received very positive reviews.
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