Cady's Take:

There is superior acting in this film across the board. At Monty’s side to the bitter end are his girlfriend, Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), childhood friends Jakob (Phillip Seymor Hoffman) and Frank (Barry Pepper), and his father (Brian Cox). As Wall Street whiz kid Frank Slattery, Pepper is exuberant and joyously icy as the egotistical know-it-all who refreshingly feels that his pal got what he deserves. He was my favorite actor in this film. English teacher Jakob seems to have a reluctant lust for his 17-year old student, Mary (Anna Paquin). Hoffman plays the weirdest of characters and they are always dealing with some sort of emotional problem. Rosario Dawson was just plain sexy.

Lee spends generous time with the supporting characters so we know who they are and what their history is with Monty. In various encounters throughout the 24 hours, these wonderfully complex characters share their fears and philosophies in a way that is surprisingly natural. In 25th Hour souls are bared, exposing raw nerves that flinch when touched.

There are two particular scenes, which stand out in the movie. One is where Monty stands in the mirror and delivers a philippic on every race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ethnicity, industry, and socio-economic affiliation in New York. The other is the last scene in which Monty's father imagines what life might be like if he failed to deliver Monty to prison- very touching.

Great acting; a deep and meaningful script; multi-layered characters; and a heart-felt message about New Yorkers specifically and humans in general. One of Spike Lee's best "joints".

You know how you find not just a food you like, but a particular way of preparing that food? For instance, you like chicken, but you LOVE chicken fajitas. Even though sometimes you get sick of them, or are not in the mood for them, they are still your favorite thing to eat if you are going to eat chicken. That is how I feel about Spike Lee movies. I love them, I really do, and although I get a little tired of the “Spike Lee” format I always find that at the end, there is no movie I would rather have watched.

“25th Hour” gives us Monty Brogan (Norton). Monty is about to go away for seven years for dealing drugs. Monty’s main concern seems to be the probability that he will be raped upon entering prison. He does not seem to be sorry for breaking the law. In fact, this movie makes a point of bashing the Rockefeller drug laws. Edward Norton has made a career playing the Bad Guy We Love. Sometimes he is bad, sometimes he is half-bad, and sometimes he is reformed-bad and is now-good. Here he plays Monty as just another business man trying to make a living and it works, because Norton can make it work.

There are several sub-plots, one involving Monty’s friend Jacob (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and his student Mary (Paquin). Also the fabulous Brian Cox plays Monty’s father James, a tough Irish bar owner who is faced with losing his son to the dangers of prison. There should be an additional credit here in my opinion because New York City itself is a character on which the others heavily rely. A particular scene in which Ground Zero is the background weighs heavily on the conversation of the characters in the foreground of the shot. My vote - classic Spike Lee and a solid rental.