25th Hour is a film in many ways unlike any other youll see this year. As youd expect from director Spike Lee, it has a certain raw originality about it. Physically theres very little going on, but it also manages to be strangely thought-provoking. It also constantly walks a thin line between the bleak and the uplifting, without ever veering off into either category, even at its very end.
Edward Norton stars as Monty Brogan, a sharp, intelligent and well-spoken man who also just happens to be a drug-dealer in cahoots with the Russian Mafia. Early on in the movie hes already decided to pack in his life of crime but no matter, because its too late. The cops are already on to him and, before you know it, hes facing seven years in the slammer.
The film traces his last day of freedom, as he settles his business with the mob, has a heart-to-heart with his recovering-alcoholic father James (Brian Cox), says goodbye to his girlfriend Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), and goes out for one final night on the tiles with best pals Jacob and Frank (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Barry Pepper).
It takes its time in letting us get to know the characters, and we find out that each of the four male parts spend their time wrestling with their consciences, albeit in different ways. James, for example, blames himself for his sons slide into crime, while Jacob a plump, dweeby English teacher feels increasingly lustful towards one of his students (Anna X-Men Paquin).
Monty, meanwhile, is a deceptively complex individual with shades of both good and bad to his character and its tough to imagine anyone better suited to pulling it off than Norton. The film features a memorable scene in which he goes off on a rant about every ethnic and social group he can think of, before finally condemning himself to the same slagging (talk about a moment of self-reflection!).
Running at 135 minutes, its dangerously lengthy for a film with such largely uneventful subject matter. For all of its finer moments, there are also parts that drag on for far too long. But its also one of the more thoughtful and well-acted movies of recent years, and is worth making time to see.