This week, Edward Norton plays a drug dealer who has 24 hours left before he must report to prison. What will he do with his last day of freedom?
Logline
Monty Brogan is a convicted drug dealer with one last night of freedom before he is supposed to report to prison. Though he wasn’t a violent goon, Monty worked for some bad people. For the next seven years he will spend it in prison, and before he loses those seven years of free living, he wants to have one last bit of freedom with his girlfriend Naturelle, and his friends Frank and Jacob.
Each of his three compadres is conflicted about what is going to happen. While Jacob and Frank know that what has happened to Monty is a matter of the life he lived, they can’t help but feel bad for their friend.
Naturelle will miss her boyfriend, but Monty has been conflicted in the weeks leading up to this moment. Did Naturelle betray him to the DEA. Is Monty going to prison because of his girlfriend’s inability to keep a secret?
To make matters worse, the crime boss that Monty worked for is unsure if he will keep his mouth shut while in prison. Assuring his boss that he has stayed silent, and will stay quiet, Monty learns that it was his partner in the drug business who ratted him out to the police. He leaves his friend in the hands of the mob and takes solace in knowing that Naturelle was loyal to him.
With his father James driving him to prison, Monty is given one last opportunity to run for his life. His father promises to drive him anywhere he wants, and lays out what the future could look like for Monty, but the convicted drug dealer has had enough, and tells his dad no. It’s time for him to go to jail. Monty takes responsibility for his actions and faces the consequences of his decisions.
High Praise
Spike Lee takes a simple story of a bad man, and weaves together this magnetic story of loss, hatred, crime, and misery into a compelling tale of a terrible person who the audience will identify with. Lee’s masterful work behind the camera in forming this story as not only a story about a drug dealer, but the city of New York as well is something that many people would struggle to convey in the film, yet Lee weaves these multiple tales with the skill of a master spinner.
Edward Norton plays the slimy Monty with ease. He allows the audience to understand his plight as the convicted drug dealer, while at the same point understanding how someone with Monty’s ability could fall to the dark side of crime.
The supporting cast of Rosario Dawson, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, and Brian Cox is electric. They’re crucial and integral to the success of the film, and they match the talents and skill of Norton, with the wizardry of Lee’s direction in a one of a kind tale.
What Were They Thinking
I could have done without the romance between Hoffman’s teacher and Anna Paquin’s student. It’s been overdone, it’s needless to this story, and makes Jacob into a sleazy slimy character. It was a distraction to the movie and could easily be cut.
Backlot Knowledge
- Spike Lee was nominated for the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival.
- David Benioff was nominated for Best Screenplay at the Boston Society of Film Critics’ Awards.
- Terence Blanchard was nominated for Best Original Score at the Golden Globes.
- Blanchard won Best Score at the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards. He also won at the Central Ohio Film Critics Association.
- The movie is based on Benioff’s original book.
- Tobey Maguire bought the rights to the novel and planned to star in the film. Thanks to his commitment to Spider-Man, he relinquished the starring role and stayed on as a Producer.
- Brittany Murphy was originally supposed to star as Mary. She left the project before production began.
- In the original book Monty never doubts Naturelle’s loyalty. The subplot in the movie was added for dramatic effect.
- Roger Ebert was a big fan of the film and listed it on his ‘Great Movies List’.
Critical Response
{Snub-Skip this Film, Overexposed-Desperate for Something to Watch, Clapper-A Perfect Film For Any Device, Magic Hour– You Must Watch This Film on a Big Screen, Award Worthy– This Film is Cinema.}
When I saw this movie the first time, around its release, I wasn’t that impressed. Spike Lee always delivers a great story, and for the most part, I am captivated by his choice of camera work, theme, and the tale he weaves with his actors. Initially, I couldn’t appreciate the complexity of 25th Hour.
This is a movie with layers that comments on a variety of social issues, as well as an enormous event like September 11th, without rehashing the historic moment, but rather through showing how the city of New York, and the people survived, and thrive during so many obstacles.
Monty Brogan is not a likable character, and in no way should we feel bad for him about going to prison. He’s a drug dealer, and as Barry Pepper’s character Frank says, he made his living off the suffering of others.
I don’t like Monty, but I feel compassion for him, because his friends, family, and girlfriend all see him as a good person, whom they love. Monty’s a drug dealer, he should be in jail, the fact that he never killed anyone with a gun, doesn’t mean that his drug business didn’t cause irreparable harm to others.
When his dad James suggests the idea of not reporting to prison and going into hiding, Lee’s direction and the framing around the story sucks us in to hoping that Monty agrees with his dad. He doesn’t, and that’s because this isn’t a fairy tale. You can’t run from your problems, and you can’t hide from your crimes.
25th Hour is excellent, and with performances that are superior to anything else. This is a film that gets my Award Worthy rating.
Best Quotable Line
“Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends.” A great line, delivered with brilliant intensity by Edward Norton.
Bill’s Hot Take
25th Hour is not Spike Lee’s best film, but it ranks high in his filmography. I doubt if Monty was black, he would have been treated the same way as what a white Monty experienced.
Call Sheet
- Edward Norton as Monty Brogan
- Barry Pepper as Frank Slaughtery
- Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Jacob Elinsky
- Rosario Dawson as Naturelle
- Anna Paquin as Mary
- Brian Cox as James Brogan
Production Team:
Directed by Spike Lee
Produced by Touchstone Pictures / 25th Hour Productions / 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
Written by David Benioff
Release Date: January 10, 2003
Budget: $5 million
Domestic Box Office Gross: $13,084,595
Worldwide Box Office Gross: $23,932,055
Coming Attractions
Next week, a look back at the DreamWorks produced robot fighting drama, Real Steel.