Seen before: Yes
I have never seen a Spike Lee film other than this one (I own 'Inside Man') but am aware of his importance as a visionary filmmaker, and would like to see more of his work. The first time I saw this I was on an Ed Norton 'binge' after watching 'American History X'.
---Plot Summary---
Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) is a convicted New York drug dealer. In the final day before he is due to serve a seven year jail sentence, he takes the time to re-evaluate his life and wrestles with his conscience in trying to find out who tipped off the police to the location of his drugs.
---Review---
The film begins with Monty and his 'henchman' Kostya (Tony Siragusa) finding and rescuing an injured dog. Both characters provide an interesting back and forth that culminates with Kostya misquoting 'Murphy's Law' as 'Doyle's Law'. 'Murphy's Law' is meant to mean what can go wrong will go wrong. And that roughly sums up Monty's imminent situation, as we cut to the present day and Monty is preparing for his jail time by meeting up with and seeking closure with the people most important to him in his life, his two best friends, his girlfriend Naturelle (Rosario Dawson) and his father.
The film is a fascinating portrayal of what a man does with his final day of freedom. Monty spends the day walking the dog he saved in the opening scene (now called Doyle), as he has a lot to think about. At the front of his mind is who betrayed him to the police. He toys with whether it was Naturelle, as in flashback he recalls the day the police came to his apartment and found his 'stash', and the way that she couldn't look at him as the police searched the place. In interrogation with the police, they even try to convince him that she was the one who turned him in. Could Monty truly have misplaced his love and trust in her? He eventually spends his last few hours partying with his friends Jacob and Frank (Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Barry Pepper) and preparing himself for the horrors that will inevitably come with prison life, before a nicely judged ending that is completely believable and appropriate, as Monty asks Frank to beat him to a pulp so that he won't get 'picked' on in prison due to his good looks (characters keep mentioning Monty's good looks throughout).
This is an incredibly stylish film, with a great soundtrack and excellent cinematography. The setting is post-9/11 New York, and there is one particularly memorable scene between Jacob and Frank in Frank's apartment, in which they are discussing how prison will change Monty as a person, to the back-drop of Ground Zero. It is through scenes like this that the film puts forward the importance of time with our loved ones.
Norton puts in an emotive performance as a man who is trying to find redemption. Yes he is a bad person (making money off of people's misery), but he creates a sense of empathy that not many other actors could have matched. You genuinely hope he finds some way of avoiding prison altogether. Seymour Hoffman does his usual supporting role of a level-headed individual laboured with a difficult morale conundrum, as his teacher character struggles to accept he has feelings for one of his students. And Barry Pepper turns in yet another masterly underrated supporting performance (he is always completely watchable) as a stock broker who can't deal with the loss of his friend so tries to convince himself, and others around him, that Monty will be lost once he is released.
I've been led to believe this is not a typical Spike Lee film, but the director really supports his source material well with some snappy editing and a few Lee-esque scenarios (when Monty literally is saying 'Fuck You!' to all the nationalities and religions of the people of New York). It's certainly a powerful film that reminds us how precious life is.
---Rating---
8/10
Tomorrow: 28 Days Later... (Danny Boyle, 2002)
I have never seen a Spike Lee film other than this one (I own 'Inside Man') but am aware of his importance as a visionary filmmaker, and would like to see more of his work. The first time I saw this I was on an Ed Norton 'binge' after watching 'American History X'.
---Plot Summary---
Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) is a convicted New York drug dealer. In the final day before he is due to serve a seven year jail sentence, he takes the time to re-evaluate his life and wrestles with his conscience in trying to find out who tipped off the police to the location of his drugs.
---Review---
The film begins with Monty and his 'henchman' Kostya (Tony Siragusa) finding and rescuing an injured dog. Both characters provide an interesting back and forth that culminates with Kostya misquoting 'Murphy's Law' as 'Doyle's Law'. 'Murphy's Law' is meant to mean what can go wrong will go wrong. And that roughly sums up Monty's imminent situation, as we cut to the present day and Monty is preparing for his jail time by meeting up with and seeking closure with the people most important to him in his life, his two best friends, his girlfriend Naturelle (Rosario Dawson) and his father.
The film is a fascinating portrayal of what a man does with his final day of freedom. Monty spends the day walking the dog he saved in the opening scene (now called Doyle), as he has a lot to think about. At the front of his mind is who betrayed him to the police. He toys with whether it was Naturelle, as in flashback he recalls the day the police came to his apartment and found his 'stash', and the way that she couldn't look at him as the police searched the place. In interrogation with the police, they even try to convince him that she was the one who turned him in. Could Monty truly have misplaced his love and trust in her? He eventually spends his last few hours partying with his friends Jacob and Frank (Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Barry Pepper) and preparing himself for the horrors that will inevitably come with prison life, before a nicely judged ending that is completely believable and appropriate, as Monty asks Frank to beat him to a pulp so that he won't get 'picked' on in prison due to his good looks (characters keep mentioning Monty's good looks throughout).
This is an incredibly stylish film, with a great soundtrack and excellent cinematography. The setting is post-9/11 New York, and there is one particularly memorable scene between Jacob and Frank in Frank's apartment, in which they are discussing how prison will change Monty as a person, to the back-drop of Ground Zero. It is through scenes like this that the film puts forward the importance of time with our loved ones.
Norton puts in an emotive performance as a man who is trying to find redemption. Yes he is a bad person (making money off of people's misery), but he creates a sense of empathy that not many other actors could have matched. You genuinely hope he finds some way of avoiding prison altogether. Seymour Hoffman does his usual supporting role of a level-headed individual laboured with a difficult morale conundrum, as his teacher character struggles to accept he has feelings for one of his students. And Barry Pepper turns in yet another masterly underrated supporting performance (he is always completely watchable) as a stock broker who can't deal with the loss of his friend so tries to convince himself, and others around him, that Monty will be lost once he is released.
I've been led to believe this is not a typical Spike Lee film, but the director really supports his source material well with some snappy editing and a few Lee-esque scenarios (when Monty literally is saying 'Fuck You!' to all the nationalities and religions of the people of New York). It's certainly a powerful film that reminds us how precious life is.
---Rating---
8/10
Tomorrow: 28 Days Later... (Danny Boyle, 2002)
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