..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

25th Hour

Directed by Spike Lee

This may seem trite, but the 25^th Hour, literally and cinematically, follows the 24^th. It also happens to be the name of a new film directed by Spike Lee based on a book by Daniel Benioff and adapted for the screen by the author. Anything beyond these simple and evident truths surrounding the film is considerably more haphazard.

The story has something to do with Monty Brogan (Ed Norton), a tough, smart kid from Irish immigrant stock who improved his lot on those fabled mean streets by selling drugs. But that last big score that was supposed to get him "out," instead got him busted. Now, 24 hours away from a 15-year prison sentence, Monty wants to come to terms with a fractious relationship with his father, his future with the woman he loves and the nature of his closest and oldest friendships.

The bare bone of the story is nothing if not ambitious. It's one life reduced to a day with all Monty's emotions tossed into a temporal blender and the puree button pushed for close to two hours.  It's supposed to be allegory, a form of storytelling that's not the filmmaker's forte. So, ambitions aside, the resulting movie is a painful exercise of watching someone forcing round pegs into square holes. It is an excruciatingly bad movie made all the worse in that one can see a savvy filmmaker making bad decisions with total confidence.

Exactly where and how the film derails is difficult to pinpoint. However, it has significant problems from the get go. Chiefly it fails repeatedly to focus the story and meanders around its intent for clearly half its running length. Initially we aren't even aware of Monty's plight and one presumes it's the tale of friendship between three unlikely types - Monty, a charismatic rogue; Francis (Barry Pepper), a hot head working on Wall Street; and Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a socially awkward high school English teacher.

Then, it begins again. We see the D.E.A. agents move in and go directly to Monty's secret stash. Will he talk and point the finger at Mr. Bigsky (he's Russian)? Will Monty discover he's been sold out by his Puerto Rican girlfriend (Rosario Dawson)?

Ultimately none of this matters because 25^th Hour isn't some tawdry thriller, it's a socio-political commentary. After all Monty's apartment faces Ground Zero, so he must be the embodiment of the New York spirit and tenacity that will not be crushed by a madman's threats. Right? 

Well, if that's the path Lee wants to take then why does he detour yet again? The closing section focuses on his reconciliation with his father (Brian Cox), a retired fireman (shades of 9/11) who runs a bar. And just when you think it can go no further he pushes the proverbial envelope with an extended "what if" finale that lacks a punchline.

Virtually every aspect of the film is wrong headed from Terence Blanchard's overtly melodramatic music score to the disastrous miscastings of Hoffman and Anna Paquin as New York ethnics. The lapses in logic, even for a film that aspires not to be plot driven, are legion beginning with the absence of a high-powered mouthpiece to broker a deal for Monty and the State of New York's seeming blindness that the protagonist might be a flight risk.

The point of the 25^th Hour is elusive and in the absence of story his cast does a lot of acting; too much of it ladled onto the screen with a trowel. While subtlety and nuance aren't part of Spike Lee's cannon, the brashness and anger of his best films was well employed in his subject matter. But what does a middle-class kid raised in an artistic mixed-marriage home know about tough white kids, the Russian mafia and Catholic redemption?

A Buena Vista release of a 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks/Industry Entertainment/Gamut Films production. Produced by Spike Lee, Jon Kilik, Tobey Maguire, Julia Chasman. Director, Lee. Screenplay, Daniel Benioff, based upon his book. Camera, Rodrigo Prieto. Editor, Barry Alexander Brown. Music, Terence Blanchard. Production design, James Chinlund. Costumes, Sandra Hernandez.

Ed Norton (Monty Brogan), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Jacob Elinsky), Barry Pepper (Francis Xavier Slaughter), Rosario Dawson (Naturelle Riviera), Anna Paquin (Mary D'Annuzio), Brian Cox (James Brogan).

- Leonard Klady