"There, But for the Grace of God, Go I"

DVDs:

	• 25th Hour Edward Norton, Barry Pepper Walt Disney Video, 2003 average customer review:based on 175 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"There, But for the Grace of God, Go I"

Each time I watch Edward Norton perform, I raise him higher on my personal Favorites List.

Playing a "slightly bad" bad guy, he has only 24 hours left of freedom before he reports to prison to start a 7 year hitch behind bars. He spends his precious last hours trying to make peace, make up (with his girlfriend) and make the arrangements neccessary (with friends) to take care of some of the things of which he is responsible (i.e.: his dog).

A tough guy to dislike, despite his troubles were over drug sales. Tho his usual monotone delivery (with heavy spikes of loud outbursts) he can deliver emotional upheaval without breaking a sweat. The cast was perfect for his character's support. The sets were all so real looking that I was watching for locations to be listed in the rolling credits. A fine job was done by all.

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25th Hour

Monty Brogan is about to start his last day of freedom before turning himself into the authorities and serving a seven-year term for drug dealing. He's a charming young man who had always dreamed of being a fireman, following in the working-class footsteps of his father, who has had to put up his bar in Queens as bond so that his son can stay out of jail until his sentence begins. Monty, named for Montgomery Clift, does not know how he managed to get himself into this predicament. It was easy money and it carried so many perks, and you'll feel more than a little sympathy for this young man who has managed to kill his own dream for courtside seats at Madison Square Garden. But before he goes to prison, Monty wants to have one last night out on the town with his two best friends. Frank Slattery is a bond trader, one of the best and most successful risk takers in a very risky business. The other is Jakob Elinsky, an English teacher who envies his friends' lifestyles but who has no intention of ever giving up his job for the easy money, despite the disillusionment of teaching high school students in a tough school. The three young men enjoy the night into the early morning as they eat, drink, and visit the hottest spots in town. A shocking ending, brilliant and disturbing story. Masterpiece of human emotion.

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25th Hour

Spike Lee is a director that it took me a while to watch. Call it the prejudices of growing up in a southern right wing Christian family, but I always got the impression that he was a racist black man blaming all the black race's social ailments on the white man. Having been raised by members of both races, I'm not fond of that type of mentality. Finally, I decided to educate myself on Lee's films, and started with the amazing social commentary of Do the Right Thing. Boy, was I wrong. Since then I've watched a few Spike Lee joints and never got the impression that he was a racist, but that he was highly aware of the racial and social tensions that came with living in the big city, and you see a little bit of that in 25th Hour.

In 25th Hour, we meet Montgomery Brogan, a former heroine dealer for the Russian mob recently pinched and spending his last day as a free man with his family and closest friends before spending the next 7 years behind bars. Among his friends he has: Jacob Elinsky (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a high school English teacher coming to terms with his crush on one of his students (Anna Paquin); Frank Slaugherty (Barry Pepper), Monty's oldest friend who's dealing with the fact that his best friend is a drug dealer and he never tried to stop him; Naturelle Riviera (Rosario Dawson), his girlfriend who may or may not have sold him; and his dad, James Brogan (Brian Cox), who would rather see his son run far away and never come back than go to prison.

25th Hour is more of a character study than anything else. The movie surrounds a party where each member of Monty's entourage comes to term with what's going on in this life. While featuring what's going on in the present, we also see flashbacks that help flesh out the history of some of our more notable characters as Lee expounds on the whodunit of selling out Monty. Lee still approaches the racial and social tensions as Monty fights with his subconscious in an effort to remember that he screwed up his own life. Lee does a great job at presenting the struggles of life in a big city, and as always in a Lee movie the big city is a living breathing character in and of itself.

The acting pedigree in this movie is nothing to sneeze at either. Featuring Golden Globe and Oscar nominated talent such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Anna Paquin, and Brian Cox, as well as other notable actors like Rosario Dawson and Barry Pepper you expect nothing but the best. The movie completely belongs to the tortured performance of Edward Norton. This performance recalls his work in American History X, while delving into different areas of guilt, depression, and owning your situation. I would argue that Norton even goes deeper into the character, giving a more nuanced performance that is less preachy than he did in the aforementioned movie.

The one main fault I would have to pin on this movie is pacing. For the most part the movie flows perfectly, but the flashbacks, while serving to build up the characters, don't help the narrative flow properly. If you were to ask if this movie is an enjoyable movie and worth watching, I would have to answer with an enthusiastic yes.

4/5

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Academy Award(R)-nominee Edward Norton (Best Actor, 1999, AMERICAN HISTORY X) heads an amazing all-star cast in the critically acclaimed Spike Lee (SUMMER OF SAM, DO THE RIGHT THING) film 25th HOUR. In 24 short hours Monty Brogan (Norton) goes to prison for seven long years. Once a king of Manhattan, Monty is about to say good-bye to the life he knew -- a life that opened doors to New York's swankest clubs but also alienated him from the people closest to him. In his last day on the outside, Monty tries to reconnect with his father (Brian Cox, THE BOURNE IDENTITY), and gets together with two old friends, Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman, ALMOST FAMOUS) and Slaughtery (Barry Pepper, THE GREEN MILE). And then there's his girlfriend, Naturelle (Rosario Dawson, MEN IN BLACK 2), who might (or might not) have been the one who tipped off the cops. Monty's not sure of much these days, but with time running out, there are choices to be made as he struggles to redeem himself in the 25th hour.

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