Spike Lee's "25th Hour"

[foray]

What do you think of it? I like the way the ambiguous ending was done. What do you think of the themes of redemption and not being able to really know a person, in relation to the whole 9/11 backdrop?


foray

 

[deep]

hi foray,

we had a thread a few months back

here it is

 

[ouizy]

I am too lazy to go to the other thread.

I just saw this flick and did not really like it.

I especially hated the scene where Ed Norton is looking in the mirror and goes off on all the racial groups in NYC.

That scene is straight out of Do The Right Thing.

Spike Lee has not done anything worthwhile since Mo Better Blues.

 

[*BOOMCHAA!*]

I loved it...as you already know if you read the other thead.

 

[brettig]

Ouizy, i know itd been done before, but I thought it fitted rather well into the context of the film. To me the whole narrative turned on it...he went from blaming everyone else in that moment to spending the rest of the film weighing up his own life, his own decisions. Ed Norton does a typically fine, intelligent job, and Pepper/Hoffman are ideal too - I'm sure we all have friends like either of those two guys. The only thing I didn't like was the Anna Paquin subplot, not really necessary I didn't think, and it never really went anywhere.
As for Lee, this is the least posturing, political piece he's done in a fair while I'd say. The shots of the twin towers were both dramatic and respectful, but also great for those of us who weren't around...the fact is there are lots of people out there who lived 9/11 like the characters in the film, people who have a flat facing onto ground zero. I'm glad those shots are in there. The dream sequence at the end reminded me of The Last Temptation Of Christ actually, one of the better 'dream sequences' in film history. I haven't always enjoyed Spike Lee, but this was a film I did enjoy.

 

[Anthony]

I intensely dislike Spike Lee and his work.

Having said that, I really want to see '25th Hour', I'm a huge Edward Norton fan!

Ant.

 

[foray]

Thanks deep, sorry I didn't see that thread.

The only complaint I have about the bathroom rant is the style and not the content, for I'm sure everyone has similar thoughts inside them at one point or another. I think it was fitting because the film is about the psychological insides of people. The main characters are rotten but we sympathize with them, the person who appears most guilty ends up being a totally different person, the worst creeps in the movie were in fact the policemen, etc. I didn't like the way in which the bathroom rant was carried out because the words didn't come out naturally to Norton. You clearly got the feeling that it was a rather forced section in the script.

I thought the handling of the 9-11 thing was puzzling at first. The American flag featured prominently, not just shot as part of the background, but it seemed to be the subject, even, of some scenes. So that kinda threw me off. I was wondering why the director featured 9-11 so prominently in the film. In a way, it could be a comment on the whole crime and punishment thing, with respect to 9-11 (who do we punish, who is to blame, who is bad and good, what is grace).

I enjoyed the movie. And brettig, you're right about the Anna Paquin bits, probably.


foray