In
New York, a bailiff does not immediately escort a person sentenced
to prison to a paddy wagon en route to prison. Instead, a
convicted felon may be allowed to settle affairs before reporting
by a particular time to court-ordered confinement. That is
the thin premise for 25th Hour,
directed by Spike Lee, who clearly has run out of ideas. Montgomery
Brogan (played by Edward Norton) is a drug dealer who works
with the Russian Mafia in New York. One day, the Drug Enforcement
Administration knocks on the door of his apartment with a
search warrant and finds a cache of drugs. Monty is found
guilty, does not rat on his boss, and is sentenced to seven
years in prison. During a twenty-four hour period before his
incarceration, Monty plans to say goodbye to his friends;
afterward, he will report to the place where he will undoubtedly
be raped and his teeth will be kicked out so that he can give
smooth blowjobs. Accordingly, at the beginning of the film,
we see him save a dog from death, so we know that he is a
nice guy at heart. We meet his close friends, but they are
not numerous. His girlfriend is attractive, but the rest are
less so. With only a few hours to go, he asks one of them
to bloody his face so that he will be less attractive when
he arrives in prison. His father (played by Brian Cox) then
comes to drive him to prison, but en route he tries to persuade
his son to go west, to change his identity, and to lead a
good life in order to make up for the past. The long 25th
Hour is quite boring, so there may a temptation
to leave the film before the ending. Does Monty accept his
father's suggestion? Is Spike Lee an apologist for drug dealers?
Fortunately, his soap opera will not have a sequel, as the
ending is quite sufficient. MH
I
want to comment on this film
