25th Hour is a 2002 American drama film directed by Spike Lee and is based on the novel The 25th Hour written by David Benioff, who also wrote the screenplay. The film stars Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Rosario Dawson, Anna Paquin and Brian Cox.

Plot[link]

A canary yellow vintage Super Bee pulls up short on a New York City street, and Monty Brogan gets out with his buddy Kostya to look at a dog lying in the road. The animal was mauled in a fight and Monty intends to shoot him but changes his mind after he looks him in the eye and decides to take him to a nearby clinic instead.

Fast forward to late 2002, and Monty is about to begin serving a 7 year prison sentence for dealing drugs. He sits in the park with his dog, Doyle, thinking of his last day of freedom. He plans to meet his childhood friends Jacob Elinsky and Frank Slaughtery that night at a club with his girlfriend Naturelle. Frank, his best friend since they were both three, is a hot shot investment banker on Wall Street. Jacob is an introverted high school teacher from a privileged family, with a crush on one of his 11th grade students. He visits his father, James, a former firefighter and recovering alcoholic who owns and runs a bar, to confirm their plans to drive to the prison the following morning. Though Monty's drug money helped him keep the bar, he is full of remorse, and when Monty goes to the bathroom he sneaks a drink. Monty, facing himself in the mirror, lashes out in his mind against everyone else: all the New York stereotypes he can think of, from the cabbies to the firefighters, the corner grocers to the mobsters, as if he hates them all.

Monty sold drugs for Uncle Nikolai, a Russian mobster, along with Kostya. Kostya tries to persuade Monty it was Naturelle, since she knew where he hid his drugs and money, who tipped the cops. Monty refused to turn state's evidence against Nikolai but he's not sure what Nikolai will do when he meets him at the club that night. He remembers how he met Naturelle when she was 17, hanging around his old school, and how happy they were before he was arrested. He persuades Frank to help him find out if it was Naturelle who betrayed him.

When they all meet at the club, Jacob sees his student, Mary, and Monty invites her in with them. Monty and Frank talk about what kind of a future he can have after prison, and Frank says they can open a bar together, even though he told Jacob he believes Monty's life is over and he deserves his sentence for dealing drugs. Frank baits Naturelle by accusing her of living high on Monty's money, and not caring where it came from, but she reminds him that he knew as well and said nothing. Jacob, meanwhile, finds the courage to kiss Mary, but both of them appear to be in shock afterwards and go their separate ways. Monty and Kostya go down to talk with Uncle Nikolai, who gives Monty advice on surviving in prison. Then Nikolai tells him it was Kostya, not Naturelle, who betrayed him, and offers him the chance to kill Kostya in exchange for protecting his father's bar. Monty refuses, reminding Nikolai that he asked Monty to trust Kostya in the first place, and he tells them he's done, and that his father is done with them, and he walks out.

When they leave, he goes home and tells Naturelle that he's sorry he mistrusted her, and he has one last thing to do. He goes to the park with Jacob and Frank, and asks Jacob to look after Doyle. Then he admits that he is terrified of being raped in prison, and asks Frank to beat him, saying if he goes in ugly he might have a chance at survival. Frank refuses, and Monty tries to provoke him, until Jacob tries to intervene and Monty attacks him. Frank grabs him and Monty goads him into taking out his frustration in the beating, leaving Monty bruised and bloody, with a broken nose, and Frank in tears. Monty gets up and goes home.

Naturelle tries to comfort him, but Monty's father arrives to take him to Otisville. As his father drives him to the prison, he suggests they go west, into hiding, giving Monty one last sight of freedom. Once again Monty sees a parade of faces from the streets of the city, all the people he will miss; and together, they envision a future where Monty escapes imprisonment, reunites with Naturelle, starts a family, and grows old. As the fantasy ends, we see that their car has gone past the turn where the fantasy began.

Cast[link]

• Edward Norton as Monty Brogan
• Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Jacob Elinsky
• Barry Pepper as Frank Slaugherty
• Rosario Dawson as Naturelle Riviera
• Anna Paquin as Mary D'Annunzio
• Brian Cox as James Brogan

Production[link]

The film was in the "planning stages" at the time of the September 11 attacks and so Lee "decided not to ignore the tragedy but to integrate it into his story."^[1]

Reception[link]

The film received positive reviews by critics, receiving a 78% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 161 reviews.^[2] Film critic Roger Ebert added this film to his "Great Movies" list on December 16, 2009.^[3] A. O. Scott^[4], Richard Roeper^[5] and Roger Ebert all put it on their "best films of the decade list".^[6]

Music[link]

The film's musical score was composed by Terence Blanchard. Other songs that appear in the film (and are not included in the original score) are as follows:

1. Big Daddy Kane – "Warm It Up, Kane"
2. Craig Mack – "Flava in Ya Ear"
3. The Olympic Runners – "Put the Music Where Your Mouth Is"
4. Grandmaster Melle Mel – "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)"
5. Liquid Liquid – "Cavern"
6. Cymande – "Bra"
7. Cymande – "Dove"
8. Cymande – "The Message"
9. Bruce Springsteen – "The Fuse" (Plays during the credits)

See also[link]

• List of cultural references to the September 11 attacks

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: 25th Hour

• 25th Hour at the Internet Movie Database
• 25th Hour at AllRovi
• 25th Hour at Box Office Mojo