25TH HOUR: DRUG DEALER AS HERO

Spike Lee films are a conundrum for me; I always anticipate the release of
his new movie, forgetting how unsatisfied I was from the previous effort,
only to be reminded by another half-baked production. Since his breakout
successes, Do The Right Thing and Jungle Fever, Lee's films often over
reach, offering too much opinion and not enough storytelling. At this point
he is living off of his reputation. His most recent outing, 25th Hour, had
me once again shaking my head with disappointment.

25th Hour is about a New York City drug dealer, Montgomery Brogan (Edward
Norton, Fight Club, Primal Fear), whom is caught by the Drug Enforcement
Administration with a large amount of drugs. His trafficking offense buys
him a seven year prison sentence, which to Montgomery seems like the rest
of his life. Norton's character does not know who alerted the DEA about his
illegal activities, but he begins to suspect his girlfriend Naturelle
(Rosario Dawson, Josie and the Pussycats) of being the informant.

Two of Montgomery's high school friends, Francis (Barry Pepper, The Green
Mile, Knockaround Guys), a narcissistic stockbroker, and Jakob (Philip
Seymour Hoffman, Punch Drunk Love, Boogie Nights), an awkward public school
teacher, take him out on the town. As incarceration nears with each passing
hour, Montgomery spends the remaining time saying his goodbyes and settling
unfinished business.

Lee skews society norms by making the hero a drug dealer. Edward Norton is
solid, if not slightly boring, as the "thug with a heart of gold".
Montgomery seems too saintly and self aware to be in the narcotic business.

25th Hour is a movie stitched together with too many rants, motifs, and
experimental film techniques that do not fit together. Spike Lee once again
makes a film with too much agenda and not enough story. Especially awkward
is the 9/11 homage that plays sporadically throughout the movie. As much as
I would welcome a thoughtful cinematic analysis of the tragedy, this film
does not offer it. Instead the gravity of these real life events is
juxtaposed with a lame plot. Like most of Spike Lee's recent movies, 25th
Hour does not deliver.