Starring Edward Norton, Rosario Dawson, Philip Seymour-Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Tony Siragusa. Directed by Spike Lee. The clock is ticking on Monty Brogan's (Norton) freedom. He was caught with a major amount of cocaine in his couch, and now he goes to prison for seven long years. Monty has to say goodbye a life that opened doors to New York's swankiest clubs, but also alienated him from his two best friends in high school, Jacob (Hoffman), an English teacher at their old school, and Slaughtery (Pepper), a very successful but cutthroat investment dealer on Wall Street. Monty tries to reconnect with his father (Cox), a bar owner who feels guilty for drinking too much and not being there for his son when his wife died. But, he's never given up on his son. Monty also has to say goodbye to his girlfriend, Naturelle (Dawson), who might (or might not) have been the one that tipped off the cops. He's also interested in 17 year-old Mary (Paquin), a student of Jacob's who they meet at the club where his farewell party is being held. Monty's not sure of a lot of things these days, and with his freedom slipping away, he has some choices to make. Based on the book, 25th Hour, like most of Spike Lee's work, is set in New York City. It was filmed shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attack. In some ways, this film is a tribute to New York, with Woody Allenesque vistas of the harbour, the streets, the bridges and an eerie but excellent scene where Jacob and Slaughtery talk about how this may be the last time they ever see Monty again, while overlooking at night the Twin Tower site as workers haul away the debris. Slaughtery outlines the three choices Monty has - flee the jurisdiction and never look back, put a bullet in his head, or drop himself off at the prison and do his time, and we are never sure even near the end which choice he will make. The story is told simply, rarely employing pumped up violence or artistic flourishes, although one technique of moving characters through the nightclub on a conveyor belt did not work for me and I could have done without. All Spike Lee films contain some controversy, and this one includes a hateful, racist rant by Monty detailing everything he hates about New York and who he blames for the mess he's in. Every racial colour, and several occupations are slammed, but it is in the context of an angry, scared person lashing out as he realizes he will have to spend 7 years in jail. He comes to realize that not only will he lose everything he has, he lost a lot of important things a long time ago. Lee has assembled an excellent cast, headed by Edward Norton. He's good as usual, but he sometimes seems like too nice a guy to be working as a drug dealer. Also stellar is Barry Pepper, who portrays the ruthless, unfeeling broker who essentially feels Monty got what he deserved, for having a great lifestyle by taking advantage of people by selling drugs to them. But, he's unable to contemplate how he too makes serious money taking advantage of the misfortune of others. In a scene where he gambles with an investment, Slaughtery smiles with satisfaction when he's about to make money because the unemployment numbers are up significantly. But Monty most of all realizes that he and others have drifted apart from each other, and from the people they were in high school. The film is about alienation, how as the characters live their busy lives, they grow apart from the people closest to them. 25th Hour is an engaging character study about a man who finds himself alienated from his closest friends, father and girlfriend, and has several key choices to make in his final 24 hours of freedom. If you would like to respond, please click the E-Mail Press Here To Go To The Review List Page