Review of 25th Hour (2002) by Christophe G — 18 Sep 2008

Truthfully, other than "The Original Kings of Comedy" (which, in my opinion really doesn't count) "25th Hour" is the first Spike Lee "joint" I've ever seen (and I picked it up only because Ed Norton is in it). This means that I went into the movie completely unaware of the director's previous body of work and completely unaware of what kind of film I was going to be watching.

This is a movie where I could have benefited from seeing the trailer, and I don't say that lightly. I'm one to change the channel when a preview comes on, as I feel like I've already watched half the damn film once the thing is over. But this is beside the point. Realistically, it can be reasonably assumed that most people have some idea of what they're getting themselves into when they sit down to watch a movie.

Even so, here if you have absolutely no idea what's going on, you have to wait until about half-way through the film until you finally figure it out. I'm sure that, for the informed, this "dancing around the point" but never explicitly hitting it on the head is a nice play at subtlety, but for tabula rasa audience members, the first 40 minutes are spent trying to figure out what the hell is happening and who it's happening to. The funniest part is, this entire argument wouldn't be here if someone or the film itself had said a mere 4 words to me near the beginning: *SPOILER* he's going to jail *SPOILER*. But I DO have my moments of stupidity...

I normally wouldn't mention such a small thing like this but it's an example of the cinematic storytelling devices "25th Hour" pulls that I'm still trying to discern whether I enjoy or despise: a sporadically non-linear plot with unmarked flashbacks, characters without introduction dropped into dialogue with other characters of unknown relation, and the occasional plot side-tracking which makes for deeper and more interesting characters but seems a bit out of place. These give the movie a very poetic feel; it makes you have to think and connect on your own which I appreciate. But really, if there were a couple of things I had just known beforehand or could have been a bit more explicit (call me a moron) I would have spent that time getting into the characters rather than puzzling over the story's basic elements.

For a film that relies almost entirely on dialogue to keep it afloat, the acting has to be top notch which it thankfully is. The editing and set lighting can get a bit extreme but not too bad. Really, besides the aforementioned plot devices (which, while potentially befuddling, still give the narrative a complexity and sense of realism) the only moments I didn't like I will naively call Spike Lee bullshit (or more affectionately, the more obvious elements of Spike Lee's presence as director). As he's known (at least I know him) for his stark portrayals of racism and socio-political hot-button issues, I felt like their presence here was disjointing and out of place. The cuts to the wreckage of the WTC, the opening credits played through the Tribute in Light, and ESPECIALLY the "mirror scene" all present a strange socio-political element that feels entirely out of place. It's like Spike Lee was halfway through production and thought, "Oh yeah, I'm Spike Lee, I need some social commentary in here somewhere." This is particularly true for the mirror scene since it is the most memorable scene of the whole film yet the point it makes is extremely small and it pulls away from the narrative's otherwise sharp focus. It strikes me as a flimsy and cheap move in otherwise excellent storytelling.

25th Hour is heavy with dialogue and strong on characterization with a good story that grew on me and an occasional directorial hiccup. Thanks for a nice joint Lee.