rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 2002
Directed by Spike Lee; produced by Julia Chasman, Jon Kilik, Spike Lee, Tobey Maguire; screenplay by David Benioff
Starring Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rosario Dawson, Barry Pepper, Anna Paquin, Brian Cox
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
Edward Norton is Monty Brogan, a guy who was a drug dealer and got caught.
'25th Hour' is a movie about the last day before he is going to prison. He
says goodbye to his woman Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), who possibly betrayed
him, to his father (Brian Cox) and to his two best friends Jacob (Philip
Seymour Hoffman) and Frank (Barry Pepper).
A movie like this can go wrong in a lot of ways but '25th Hour' doesn't go
wrong. It is a bit slow for some moviegoers, but since this is Monty's last
day it should be slow. There is no real story although some things are
changed in the end of the movie. We just follow the guy and he does things
that seem pretty realistic to me.
Monty is not scared for the time he is losing in prison, he is scared
because there is a good chance he will be abused. He wants a solution for
that problem and somewhere in the movie, when they look over Ground Zero
from Frank's apartment, Jacob and Frank talk about his options. Their
conclusion is that after this day, it is over.
Some other things happen, also involving the supporting characters, but you
have to see that for yourself. This movie might be slow, it will definitely
keep your attention. One of the main reasons is Edward Norton's very strong
performance. You believe he is a convicted person in every scene and
although he is not really a good person, he doesn't regret the things he
did, you kind of want the best for him. The other performances are very good
as well. Philip Seymour Hoffman does a fine job, although he often plays a
guy like the Jacob in this movie, and Brian Cox is wonderful as in every
movie.
Two other things came to my attention. The first is the cinematography.
Almost everything looks perfect and we watch over Ground Zero together with
Jacob and Frank there is a strange feeling that the camera gives us. The
second thing is the score. This is a movie where the score is perfect for
the movie. Terence Blanchard did an excellent job.