The 25th Hour

Based on David Benioff's cult novel, The 25th Hour is one of the first major movies to be set in a post September 11th New York City and is one of the most intriguing films that Spike Lee has made in years. In a return to the sort of form that we've come to associate with his talent, Edward Norton plays 27-year-old Irish American Montgomery Brogan. A mid-level, middle class drug dealer, Brogan was busted for possession and about to be locked for the next seven years in jail. Spending his last day of freedom evaluating his own life as well as trying to find out who grassed him up, Monty decides to use his last evening of freedom with his two best friends from childhood, Frances (Pepper) and Jacob (Hoffman) and his girlfriend, Naturelle (Dawson).

Slow moving and thoughtful are not words that you'd immediately associate with the work of the usually brash Spike Lee. With The 25th Hour, though, he's uncharacteristically restrained and measured. Explicit reference is made to the September 11 attacks and the physical and emotional impact they welded on the city's psyche. Negotiating this perilous path, Lee manages to pitch the tone and atmosphere just right. The actors' performances help, too. Norton is excellent, but his support in the shape of Pepper (never better) and Hoffman is spectacular.