(rated R, 134 mins.) Director Spike Lee sheds light on a man who’s unsure how his life has led him to this point as he struggles to redeem himself in the 25th hour. A drug dealer, Monty Brogan (Oscar nominated Edward Norton), a stressed out Wall St. broker (Barry Pepper) and a tight wound professor with a ‘Lolita’ fetish (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) have been best friends since childhood. Distanced from jobs and adult responsibility, they re-bond when Monty is about to be sent away to prison for an undetermined sentence. His girlfriend, Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), could be the somebody who snitched, as he tries to figure this out and understand his life that includes his long lost dad (Brian Cox). Norton is best in these psychotic roles (think “Primal Fear” and “Fight Club”) snapping on everything New York has ever given him from the Korean grocers to the Chelsea gays to the Mafia of Brooklyn, as he watches his life pass by, from roadhouses to penthouses, in the last hours of freedom. Seymour Hoffman is so good in his nervous role, we feel the perspiration on our own faces. The screenplay is written by David Benioff who also penned the book it’s based on. Lee is incredible at getting into the heart of the city but could have lost a few of the 9/11 references along the way. One of the year’s best films. Too bad it’s only January.
