|
I had
originally added “25th Hour” to my Netflix queue to see Anna Paquin in
something besides the X-Men movies. I just had to see what my girl Rogue
could do outside of a comic book film. FYI, I have never seen a Spike
Lee movie and found this to be a really good movie. So much so that I
watched it twice in two days. Now, I like movies and watch quite a few
of them but it isn't very often that I will watch the same movie twice
in two days. That has to say something good about the movie, right?
It's not
very often that a drug dealer is portrayed as a not-so-bad guy, but
Edward Norton pulls it off quite well. You know he deserves prison, and
that he's afraid to go, but he still plays it cool. If it were me I
would probably be sitting in a corner clutching my butt cheeks
blubbering all night. You just can't hate the guy, he did what he had to
do for him and his father to survive.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman is
great here. That's all I can say. Barry Pepper, who you may remember as
Jonnie Goodboy Tyler in “Battlefield Earth”, (yes, I have seen it)
redeems himself quite admirably as Frank, the go get em stockbroker.
Rosario Dawson has her own issues in dealing with Monty's sentence but
we don't see too much of that. While not quite as cute as her character
in Clerks 2, but still a far cry from the head prostitute she played in
“Sin City”, she does a decent job as the girlfriend. Anna Paquin, while
being fun to watch comes across as slightly juvenile, which makes sense
as she's playing a 17 year old. She does sultry quite well, although you
know she's only acting that way to get an A. Watch for the twin WTF just
happened shots of her and Hoffman, priceless. To finish up the casting
we have Brian Cox playing Monty's father who tries to blame himself for
his sons actions. He has a really great voice-over at the end of the
film.
There are
two scenes that I want to point that particularly impressed me. One was
was a five minute long (yes, I timed it) continuous shot of Frank and
Jacob talking about everything from 9/11 to Monty's predicament where
the camera pulls up behind them and tilts over their shoulders to look
out the window upon Ground Zero. Five minutes, no kidding. The other was
what I am calling the mirror rant. I really can't talk about it because
there was a lot of cursing going. But trust me, it was an intense scene.
I would have put in the best lines section but I didn't feel like
changing all the f-bombs.
The sound
mix – I prefer my movies to have a slightly over the top surround sound
mix. I like hearing the individual channels. Now when a car or airplane
is moving across the screen, seamless transition between channels is a
plus, but there are a coupe of scenes in here where the sound jumps at
you. One is during the mirror rant, Monty's voice comes from each
individual speaker working all the way around you. The other is the
music during the club scene. The crowd noise builds in the rear speakers
and then the music kicks in, scratching firing from one rear speaker
then the other. I loved it. The only complaint I have with the sound is
a stylistic choice. During the “make me ugly:” scene all sound fades
away until all you hear is birds chirping and some far off traffic. I
understand why Lee did it, but I don't think the scene needed it.
This disc
is kind of light on the extra features. A few deleted scenes (that I
didn't watch), commentary by Lee and the author David Benioff (that I
didn't listen to), a documentary on the career of Spike Lee, and a
“tribute” to Ground Zero that consisted of a sequence of shots of
workers clearing the site of the World Trade Center of rubble. Just
some guys sweeping the ground with some bulldozers and some creepy
music.
A couple of
quick notes – I love the car Morty drives at the beginning. Bright
yellow bad a** GTO.
This was
the first major release set in New York after the events of 9/11.
There is a
horrible layer change on the disc about 1 hr 20 min in. Is it the disc
that causes this? Or the player?
To wrap it
up, a great movie about one man's last night as a free man. Great
performances by everyone involved. Great sound. Some minor unresolved
plot issues, such as we know how the DEA found out about the drugs, but
not why. And the story of Jacob and Mary never really gets resolved. But
barring that, watch it. It is a serious flick that plays well without
becoming depressing.
My name is
Mitch, and I approve of this movie.
So until
Spike Lee directs a Star Wars movie,
keep
reading.
Best Lines:
Monty
Brogan: Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham
friends.
[Imagining
an alternate ending for Monty]
James
Brogan: And maybe one day, years from now, long after I'm dead and gone,
reunited with your dear mother, you gather your whole family together
and tell them the truth, who you are, where you come from. You tell them
the whole story. And then you ask them if they know how lucky they are
to be there.
Jacob
Elinsky: I kissed her.
Frank
Slaughtery: You what?
Jacob
Elinsky: My student. I, I kissed her.
Frank
Slaughtery: Who are you trying to be... R.
Kelly?
Frank
Slaughtery:: You know what a man should never ask in a Victoria's Secret
shop, Jake?
Jacob
Elinsky: What?
Frank
Slaughtery: "Does this come in children's sizes?"
Frank
Slaughtery: You know, you're wearing a striped shirt with a striped tie,
you know that, right?
Phelan:
Yeah, I do it for the ladies.
Frank
Slaughtery: Oh - the ladies ever tell you that you look like a f&!*ing
optical illusion?
Uncle
Nikolai: This is my advice to you: When you get there, figure it out
who's who. Find the man nobody's protecting. A man without friends. And
beat him until his eyes bleed. Let them think you are little bit crazy,
but respectful, too. Respectful of the right men.
Frank
Slaughtery: I'm Irish. I can't get drunk, all right? I know exactly what
I'm saying.
|
