In "25th Hour", we follow Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) through his last day as a free man before a 7 year maximum security sentence. Brogan is a drug dealer - his economic status reflects a man who has done we'll for himself for a long time. This last-day device plays fast and loose with legal procedure, since someone convicted of his crime would not likely be free, nor would he still have his posh apartment. As a result, I wondered from the beginning if the entire story was a fantasy sequence, but the numerous fantasy-sequence narratives throughout suggest we should believe this is in fact his reality.
Putting that aside: Brogan spends his last day walking his dog, visiting his father, and arranging to spend an evening with his girlfriend Naturelle and his two oldest friends, Elinsky (a teacher) and Slaughtery (a stockbroker). We are provided tantalizing glimpses into Elinsky and Slaughtery's characters that ultimately do little to inform their perspectives on Brogan's situation, but make up interesting subplots nonetheless, and give both actors the opportunity to flex their acting muscles.
I have not read Benioff's novel, though I suspect it is excellent. Unfortunately, in adapting the tale for the screen, he demonstrates that he is a writer who depends on his prosaic skill to help him through weak points in his story. It feels as though he wanted to ensure his favorite bits of writing made it into the film whole, and although the two longest monologues are powerfully delivered and well written, they take the short (or long, as the case may be) route to illustrate character development by amounting to minutes of exposition. Film is the medium in which a story unfolds before the viewer, who is called upon to ascribe meaning to what's seen. Little opportunity to draw our own conclusions is provided when it comes to internal conflict, and instead the ambiguity lies in the actual events that take place. I consider this the essential weakness of "25th Hour".
Spike Lee plays Benioff's game with montages and clever devices to illustrate the long speaking pieces. But these are devices Lee is known for, and I don't think he stretches too much as a director in this picture. (To be fair, if I wanted a director to do a good job with my dialogue-heavy character study, I would call on Tarantino or Smith; I suspect Benioff worked with Lee because he knew his vision of his novel would be respected.)
A truly excellent musical score runs throughout the film, slightly more than background but ageless enough that it will not seem dated later.
If Lee had taken the initiative to give us some kind of character arc for any of the film's characters, my rating would be much higher. But the conflicts Brogan faces are weakened because we have too much information; there is never a sense of urgency because his suspicions of his betrayer are refuted at every turn. When we do learn the truth, we do not have enough invested in that character's identity to be shocked or even relieved. This makes the pace flag and the end seem anticlimactic. Perhaps it is supposed to be - maybe the point is that the last day of freedom is just a day like any other day and the end of it is still the end, but I need more from a film's story to really be satisfied.
I give "25th Hour" a 6 for strong performances, with a cautious recommendation that it is worth seeing once, but probably not again.
Putting that aside: Brogan spends his last day walking his dog, visiting his father, and arranging to spend an evening with his girlfriend Naturelle and his two oldest friends, Elinsky (a teacher) and Slaughtery (a stockbroker). We are provided tantalizing glimpses into Elinsky and Slaughtery's characters that ultimately do little to inform their perspectives on Brogan's situation, but make up interesting subplots nonetheless, and give both actors the opportunity to flex their acting muscles.
I have not read Benioff's novel, though I suspect it is excellent. Unfortunately, in adapting the tale for the screen, he demonstrates that he is a writer who depends on his prosaic skill to help him through weak points in his story. It feels as though he wanted to ensure his favorite bits of writing made it into the film whole, and although the two longest monologues are powerfully delivered and well written, they take the short (or long, as the case may be) route to illustrate character development by amounting to minutes of exposition. Film is the medium in which a story unfolds before the viewer, who is called upon to ascribe meaning to what's seen. Little opportunity to draw our own conclusions is provided when it comes to internal conflict, and instead the ambiguity lies in the actual events that take place. I consider this the essential weakness of "25th Hour".
Spike Lee plays Benioff's game with montages and clever devices to illustrate the long speaking pieces. But these are devices Lee is known for, and I don't think he stretches too much as a director in this picture. (To be fair, if I wanted a director to do a good job with my dialogue-heavy character study, I would call on Tarantino or Smith; I suspect Benioff worked with Lee because he knew his vision of his novel would be respected.)
A truly excellent musical score runs throughout the film, slightly more than background but ageless enough that it will not seem dated later.
If Lee had taken the initiative to give us some kind of character arc for any of the film's characters, my rating would be much higher. But the conflicts Brogan faces are weakened because we have too much information; there is never a sense of urgency because his suspicions of his betrayer are refuted at every turn. When we do learn the truth, we do not have enough invested in that character's identity to be shocked or even relieved. This makes the pace flag and the end seem anticlimactic. Perhaps it is supposed to be - maybe the point is that the last day of freedom is just a day like any other day and the end of it is still the end, but I need more from a film's story to really be satisfied.
I give "25th Hour" a 6 for strong performances, with a cautious recommendation that it is worth seeing once, but probably not again.