25th Hour

25th Hour released in 2002, is directed by Spike Lee. This film stars Edward Norton (American history X), Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Berry Pepper, and Rosario Dawson.  Its about a drug dealer Monte (Ed Norton) who gets snitched on and gets caught up for selling heroine. He has 24 hours before he has to go to prison. He decides to spend his last hours with his best friends Frank(Berry Pepper) and Jakob(Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and go out partying for his last night. This drama, really captures the reality of getting caught by the authorities and the stress and pressure it comes with.

Before watching this movie in class, i had seen this movie before. i have always thought of it as a good movie. I have only seen three spike lee movies. Malcom X, Do the right thing, and 25th hour. I would say out of the three spike lee movies i have ever seen, i think this is the second best flick that he has directed, after Malcom X. I can see in each of his movies, his directing is different at times, but also similar. Like when he has the Montage at the mirror and he also has that in Do the Right thing. I have to say, that was probably on of my favorite parts of the movie. His rant about life, and everybody in New York. I thought it was pretty funny at moments, and thought it was interesting how he used a mirror this time in the movie instead of just talking into the camera like he did in Do the Right thing. In 25th hour, i really like how Monte's Character develops. You can see he is clearly stressing out, but is trying to keep his cool. He is also trying to figure out some sort of way to cope with the situation that is already dealt for him. The pace is somewhat slow, and there isnt any action at all in the whole movie. But appreciate the story that spike lee is trying to tell, and the way he tells it. I think that he tells the story mostly from his characters. His character developments are very strong. For example, you see what Monte and Naturelle are like when they first meet and how much their relationship develops. Then you see the pressure that they are both under after he gets busted. Him getting busted ultimately affects him, but you can also see that it affects the ones closest to him as well.

I believe that this film has a lot of life lessons in it. To not do bad because there will be a consequence, to appreciate freedom, and stuff like that. Like i said before, even though there isnt any action, the acting is really good. Another thing that i noticed was the music fit the tone of the film perfectly. I believe the film was a sad, regretful tone and that Spike Lee directed this very well. Much better than he did Do the right thing. I could see that he was going for more of a life lesson type of thing, or symbolism of life. Overall i think that the movie was pretty good, and appreciate the plot and character development. I give this film 3 stars.

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