25th Hour

Spike Lee can have whatever opinions he wants, and you don't have to agree with them, but you have to admit he has a sense for storytelling, for characters, and that he's capable of using forms that fit the story. Even in 25th Hour, he chooses scenes that are sometimes very specific, and almost artistic, but they manage to enhance the impression that the story is creating. A successful film about one human fate. (08/09/2016)

25th Hour is such a small film, and yet it’s so big! From every minute you can feel the intellectual charge and the director’s commitment and goal. The actors are fantastic, and Barry Pepper in particular is very surprising. The psychological tension in the dialogue could crush an elephant. It’s easy not to give this excellent, distinctive film a full five-star rating, but it’s impossible to reasonably justify why it doesn’t deserve one. (10/04/2003)

"I was waiting for the rough journey of a condemned dealer for justice and clearing my name, and Spike Lee tells more about a sad farewell to a slightly desperate existence. In the end, I was disappointedly bored for over a hundred minutes, only for an amazing finish to reveal itself, leaving a significantly better taste than the film perhaps deserves." (01/10/2006)

Monty Brogan had his whole life ahead of him, offering him plenty of tempting opportunities. Unfortunately, he chose the fastest shortcut to making money and transitioned from a promising student to a school marijuana dealer. The profession remained, only he smoothly transitioned from light drugs to the hard ones. But as they say, what goes around comes around, and one day, the police are invited into his apartment. Explaining a kilo of heroin and a generous amount of cash was quite difficult. So difficult, in fact, that you leave the court with the perspective of 7 years behind bars in an environment far from the standards you were accustomed to. Spike Lee decided to film the farewell of his hero to freedom, and it must have truly pained him because he did his utmost to humanize him and gain the sympathy of the audience. The film contains a lot, to the point of the ruined existences of Brogan's customers, their broken families, undermined health, suicides, overdoses, AIDS, and much more associated with drug users. Many people in the world have come to their misfortune blindly, but that can't be said about Monty. Where Lee expects sympathy from me, I shrug my shoulders and say: Your Monty only reaped what he sowed. Moreover, Spike Lee looks like someone who has been silent for too long and suddenly desires to get a lot of things out of himself, things that would be cool, but in a different genre, a different film, and with different main characters. The film simply slips through his fingers. Spike does have a way with the camera, relying on top-notch actors, and some scenes have an atmospheric look, but considering the above, I can't give it more than 3 stars - and he should be glad I'm not dissecting the final cheesy sentimental outpouring of the main character's father, which would not fare well on the chart of film embarrassments. Overall impression: 55%. (11/09/2013)

I admire the enthusiasm and courage with which Spike Lee took on such an unassuming premise, and I admire the resulting film, which certainly has something to say, first with the precise and sensitive direction, which brilliantly develops the characters and builds up strongly at the end, and also thanks to the excellent cast led by Norton and Hoffman, whose immense talents are literally palpable in every frame. I needed a bit of time to finally get to grips with the film, but in the end its depth of thought and truly great script enveloped me as strongly as if I were the one about to face seven years in prison hell. And that’s a kind of feeling that won’t easily fade from my memory. (13/11/2012)