Spike Lee has a firm grasp on New York City’s post-9/11 pulse throughout his latest film, 25^th Hour. The talented writer-director of masterpieces like Do the Right Thing and, strike that, I meant of the masterpiece (singular), captures the mentality of contemporary citizens in a state that has experienced one of the most severe and brutal acts of terrorism in history. There are dozens of references to the events of that monumental day, but other than being the first director to include a post-9/11 factor, Lee has finally made another endearingly stylistic film; his first since the aforementioned masterpiece.

An ensemble piece featuring a solid performance from each cast member, 25^th Hour spans the final 25, err, 24-hours of freedom for suave drug-dealer Monty Brogan (Edward Norton). Deeply rooted in the Russian mafia’s drug ring, Monty is ratted-out and busted by DEA agents in his lush Manhattan apartment. He is sentenced to 7-years in Otisville prison. Along with childhood friends Jacob (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and Francis (Barry Pepper), and his luscious Puerto Rican girlfriend, Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), Monty celebrates his final night of freedom while reevaluating the bad decisions made during his life.

The premise is simple. The characters are complex. And aside from a handful of the filmmaker’s trademarks, such as an entrancing tirade (a la’ Do the Right Thing) in which Monty rants about his disgust with New York’s various ethnic groups, as well as broader topics like the Enron scandal (“Send them to jail for life”, Norton whines in front of a bathroom mirror), it’s hard to tell that this is a Spike Lee joint. Notable is the director’s first-time use of widescreen, a change from his usual 1:85:1 aspect ratio. And when Lee doesn’t allow the camera to linger on character conversations for a full 5-minutes, he cuts and shoots more coverage than is normal for his films. It’s refreshing to watch an established filmmaker test different styles for a change.

Not to neglect the captivating character interactions and dialogue, written by David Benioff from his novel of the same name. There are many scenes in which the exchange of dialogue captures audience attention more than anything visual could, featuring conversations in the Quentin Tarantino-slash-David Mamet sense of discussion, though not as witty. Both the screenplay and the novel were written before 9/11; so surly Lee closely collaborated with Benioff in contemporizingthe script.

Shot on location in all five NY boroughs – Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, and Brooklyn – Lee was lucky to have worked with cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, the DP of such 2002 films as 8 Mile and Frida, both of which have completely different looks. Prieto was first noticed in America for his award-winning work on the acclaimed Mexican film, Amores Perros. With 25^th Hour’s vibrant cinematography, shot in neon-lit NYC dance clubs and colorful SoHo lofts, Prieto continues breathing life into atmospheres through use of light and lenses as few other DP’s can.

Both Anna Paquin and Brian Cox have interesting supporting roles, Paquin as Jacob’s 17-year old flirty student and Cox as Monty’s regretful father, and perform equally well as the leading actors. Norton, Hoffman, Pepper and Dawson deliver performances we've seen in other films, but that doesn’t mean any actor from this standout cast is weak. They all play it pretty straight, which is unexpected for such risk-taking thespians (Hoffman plays a widower who becomes addicted to inhaling gasoline fumes in this winter’s Love Liza, for Christ's sake).     

GRADE: A-

-Copyright 2002 by Shaun Sages

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