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Truth and Consequences

By Joshua Rothkopf

Spike Lee’s latest—his 20th feature including TV work—is at long last the raging masterpiece many have suspected him capable of. 25th Hour eclipses everything he’s done before, including Do the Right Thing, in terms of its insight into the violence wrecking the boroughs and, provocatively, the skyline of his beloved city. (It delivers on the hopes held for Scorsese’s Gangs… return to article

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    thought you might want to read this very positive review of the 25th hour. 

    United States Posted by Rae on Feb 7, 2003 at 2:16 PM

    Wow, did we see the same film?  A “raging masterpiece”?  Sounds like you took one too many film appreciation courses.  Lee’s movie, while featuring characteristically sharp and provocative dialogue, also reveals a complete black hole of confused themes.  Yeah, there’s all the reflection on the wages of sin, the opportunism and selfishness behind many friendships, etc., but nothing we don’t already get ad nauseum from moralizers of school and church.  Monty is a bigot and a jerk, and his friends creepy hypocrites, so what?  Not all that much more to say, so Lee relies on montage and backdrop to make points, few of which go beyond gentle reminders that we should all get along.

    And as for allusions to 9/11, the only thing I saw was a superficial patriotism, symbolized by frequent shots of the flag, suggesting a darker theme—the resiliency of the American spirit in the face of foreign attack AND domestic failures.  Considering what’s coming in Iraq, this is hardly a progressive point to make.

    Posted by Peter Anestos on Feb 11, 2003 at 6:22 PM

    Take note Mr. Scorsese:
    Truly great filmmaking no longer relies on the cheap,gawdy,derivative,gratuitous exploitation/tabloidization of both art and history(gangs of new york).
    That’s why Spike Lee is daring enough and great enough to speak to realism without hiding behind some pathetic distorton of history.
    25th Hour is the best film of the year.

    United States Posted by Max Lumas on Feb 13, 2003 at 7:25 AM
    Page 1 of 1 pages

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