Grade:  C

Director:  Spike Lee		Released:  December 2002
Writer:  David Benioff		MPAA Rating:  R
Players:  Edward Norton, Barry Pepper, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rosario Dawson, Anna Paquin, Brian Cox		Running time:  135 minutes

Ratings System

It may be time for Spike Lee to change his style.  His movies are heavy-handed and self-important, that's a real turn-off for me.  We can judge for ourselves whether a film has something important to say, Spike.  We don't need you to slam it down our throats.  Remember when you recommended kids skip school to see Malcolm X?  It's a great film, but for you to indicate that it's more important for kids to see your movie than to go to school is ridiculous.  Why couldn't you have suggested they see it first thing Saturday morning?  Answer: because you believe your films are more important than they really are, and it shows.

25th Hour is good, but marred by these elements of imposed "greatness".

One particular scene is quintessential Spike Lee.  Norton's character engages in a monologue (tirade, rather) while staring into a bathroom mirror.  My personal favorite touch on this scene is the way the mirror image does not match the live image, as if we're watching Norton's internal dialog in the mirror.

Overall, I just wasn't that impressed.  The acting is fine, the soundtrack is good, the story is nice, it all adds up to average.  This isn't a movie I would watch again if I landed on it while channel surfing.

- crocoPuffs