I’m a huge of the lead, Edward Norton, and its premise sounds interesting so I’m really anxious to watch it but the idiots who distributed the movie nationwide seem to have it in for me… the closest theater that’s playing the friggin’ show is a good hundred miles away. Augh… I’m a unabashed fanboy but even I have my limits; a hundred miles is right around that cut off point.
So that’s why I’m asking for opinions on the movie… I want to know just how upset I should be for having to wait for it to come out on DVD in six months or more. :mad:
“Funny you should post this.”
(It might make you smile after you see it.)
Saw it last weekend. Enjoyed it considerably.
Some very funny bits, some very violent.
I am also a big fan of EN’s. His 2 best buds were great as well. His girlfirend - tho incredibly beautiful - I thought was not much of an actor. And as much as I like EN, I never really accepted him as the character he was supposed to be.
Although I love Edward Norton, Barry Pepper and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, I was not terribly impressed by the movie.
It was much slower than I had expected and that threw the whole thing off. Plus, Spike Lee has lost his mind. Maybe I’m dim, but I really did not get what he was trying to say with this film. I had heard it was an “homage” to New York but it mostly seemed to me that he was bagging on New York and New Yorkers. There is a very long rant mid-film which mostly involves “fck the (insert NY stereotype), fck the (insert another NY stereotype)…repeat ad nauseum” that I have no idea why it was in there.
I did appreciate that it took place in post 9/11 NY and wasn’t afraid to have that be part of the collective. One character has an apartment that overlooks Ground Zero, there’s a bar where many of the NYFD used to hang out, etc. The opening credits were shown over different shots of the towers of light which was neat at first but ended up being the LONGEST opening credits that I can remember. Or maybe it just felt that way.
Anyway, I would say wait to rent it. But actually, I’d rather you went and saw it and then came back here to tell me what the heck it was all about.
I’m gonna have to go with Sunshine here. When we were leaving the theater, my SO asked what I thought of the movie and I said “What the hell happened to Spike Lee? He used to be so good!” In this case, he had a great cast and a great setup and he turned in a wildly uneven movie. Parts of the movie were great–the closing sequence, for example, is one of the coolest bits of filmmaking I’ve seen in a long time. Other parts of the movie were absolutely intolerable–the second-to-last sequence in particular was horrible! Not in a cinematic way–the whole movie looked really good–but in a character way. I won’t spoil what happens (because I don’t know how to use a spoiler tag), but suffice it to say that I cannot concieve of a real human being being in that situation and responding the way Norton’s character did.
Furthermore, Lee’s got a real problem with women. He’s always had too much of that macho bravado for my taste, but in this movie it seemed to border on misogyny! I’ll tell you one thing–if I was facing Norton’s situation (going to prison for seven years the next day, had a beautiful girlfriend), I’d go out with my friends and then bow out early–about 10 PM or so–go home and fuck until I couldn’t fuck no more! Needless to say, this is not what happens in the movie.
So… it could be described as “Interesting premise, first rate cast, and questionable execution”? I can deal with that… I watched and enjoyed “Keeping the Faith” just 'cause Norton was in it.
PSH is a high school english teacher, one of EN’s 2 best buddies. AP is a student in his class. PSH is infatuated with her, and she leads him on. Later in the film, the 3 buddies are going into an exclusive club. AP asks them to get her in, and they do.
AP dresses pretty much the same at school as at the club.
Haven’t seen the movie but I know the premise. Is there an explanation anywhere in the film why the main character doesn’t run?
I know if I were headed to prison for seven years without possibility of parole, I would be gone like the wind.
They do discuss the possibility of him running but I am not really sure why he doesn’t…I guess mostly because then he’ll have to keep running and he’d rather just pay his debt and be done with it. They do come up with a stupid plan to help protect him during his first few days in jail…
He decides he’s too “pretty” and he’ll never last, so he gets Barry Pepper to basically punch him in the face a whole bunch. The next morning on the way in, he looks totally messed up, and apparently, this is going to save him from becoming someone’s beeyotch.
Thanks Sunshine. That’s exactly the scene I was referring to. Norton’s character’s actions here were not only illogical in the extreme, but just plain stooopid! I prefer my plan, outlined above.
Yeah, no kidding. Plus, I was also thinking exactly what you were thinking…what guy going to jail the next morning doesn’t even say good night to his girlfriend and spends the whole night out with his buddies? If that were a real guy, he’d have been home by 10 p.m. and naked and screwing by 10:01. At least, that’s what I’d do. Maybe Spike Lee doesn’t care about sex so much. (Yet further proof that he’s lost his mind!)
Earlier on in the film, he suspected Naturale called the cops on him. Which could explain why he was reluctant to spend time with her. He didn’t find out that she didn’t until after she left. I don’t remember the exact timeline, but by the time he had that realization, there wasn’t much time left.
No, easy, she had not left the club yet. And then there was plenty of time to take care of business when the idiocy that Sunshine and I were decrying was taking place.
Even if she WAS the one who ratted him out, wouldn’t he still want to get his rocks off the night before he went to jail for seven years? She’s a sure thing and he wouldn’t have to go to all the trouble of picking someone up and convincing her to take him back to her place, yadda yadda yadda…
That’s easy to say in theory Sunshine, but I’m pretty sure if you were about to be locked up for 7 years then sex probably would be one of the last things on your mind.
In fact if I was in the situation Monty was in there is NO way I would ever think of sex the night before going to gaol. I think it would just make it harder to leave and say goodbye the following morning. Personally I would be trying to distance myself from emotions like that, not relive them.
I agree with INSANE1 about sex the night before going to prison.
Just rented 25th Hour a week ago.
And while I thought the film was at times heavy-handed, the script and acting were compelling and definitely kept my attention, something that does not always happen for me when I watch a video rental.
Didn’t seem odd to me that Lee’s homage to NYC came off as “bagging” NY and NYers; I’d expect nothing else, plus the scene with his dad towards the end explains all.
I still like Lee’s Crooklyn the best, but thought 25th Hour was very worthwhile.
