25th Hour

Crime, Drama

Edward Norton	Monty Brogan
Philip Seymour Hoffman	Jacob Elinsky
Barry Pepper	Frank Slaughtery
Rosario Dawson	Naturelle Riviera
Anna Paquin	Mary D'Annunzio
Brian Cox	James Brogan
Tony Siragusa	Kostya Novotny
Levani Outchaneichvili	Uncle Nikolai (as Levani)
Tony Devon	Agent Allen
Misha Kuznetsov	Senka Valghobek

Director	Spike Lee
Producer	Julia Chasman; Jon Kilik; Spike Lee
Writer	David Benioff

25th Hour is a eulogy, mourning the New York of post-September 11, 2001, and the regrettable life of one of the city's least reputable citizens. Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) isn't a bad guy--in fact he's a mensch, adopting a battered dog in the film's mood-setting opening scene, and leading a decent life with his girlfriend (Rosario Dawson)... when he's not dealing narcotics. Facing a seven-year prison term, Monty spends his last free night with pals (Barry Pepper, Philip Seymour Hoffman) and visiting his understanding father (Brian Cox), while a Russian drug lord pressures him for getting busted. Lee directs this plotless, no-win scenario as the last gasp of a guy with nowhere to go, and the film (written by David Benioff, from his own novel) suffers from a similar loss of potential, lacking enough focus to make Monty's odyssey compelling. Instead, 25th Hour (which also costars Anna Paquin) rambles from scene to lazy scene, vaguely lamenting that lives have been wasted, some by terrorism, others by self-destruction. --Jeff Shannon