If the 00’s will be remembered for anything, it will be for movies about straight male bonding. We saw it work really well in movies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Superbad (and suck horribly in Clerks 2). But Spike Lee’s 25th Hour handled the subject more maturely and thoughtfully than any other film this decade, making it the best guy movie of the 00’s.
While other critics have pointed to the film’s excellent handling of post-9/11 New York, I was struck more by the relationship between Edward Norton’s character Monty, and his two oldest friends Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Frank (Barry Pepper).
Monty, a thirty-something former drug dealer, has one night of freedom left before he heads to prison for seven years, his punishment for getting caught with a couple of kilos of heroin. He spends most of that day walking around different parts of NYC, including his old high school and a popular night club where he’s being given a final send-off.
Throughout the movie, Monty struggles with the reality of heading to jail for seven years, a place where he will in all likelihood be raped, or killed even. Knowing that he’ll never be the same person he was, his friends, father and girlfriend do their best to make his last night of freedom his best.
We’ve all had a friend or two who did a bad thing in their life, or headed down a direction they shouldn’t have, but have any of us felt compelled to tell that person to stop what they’re doing and get their act together? Monty’s friends knew he was getting in too deep and didn’t stop him, and they blame him and themselves for the way things turned out. Frank and Jacob have a revealing conversation about Monty as they overlook Ground Zero.
“I love him like a brother, but he fucking deserves it,” Frank says.
His character is the most like Monty, smart, handsome, and used to living a flashy lifestyle. Out of all these characters, he shows the most anger and the most regret over Monty’s impending imprisonment, and he takes it out on everyone, Jacob, Monty’s girlfriend, and Monty himself.
In the final scene with these three friends, Monty asks Frank to make him ugly by beating his face to a pulp in order to help him survive in prison.
“I need you to really fuck me up.”
Frank initially refuses, but Monty knows which buttons to push. He throws Frank’s attraction to Monty’s girlfriend in his face, and even attacks Jacob before Frank finally unleashes a world of hurt on Monty’s face. The scene ends with Frank curled up in a ball crying, his fist bloodied, and his best friend on his way to prison.
That scene speaks volumes about the strength of male friendships. Frank has to pummel Monty in order to save him. I can’t think of a harder thing to ask someone to do. I don’t want to either.
If you take one thing away from watching this film, it should be this: don’t let your friends head down a path of no return without saying something. You owe it to them, and yourself, to speak up when they’ve crossed the line. If it’s a choice between speaking out and risking your friendship, or having to beat their face in later, I’ll gladly choose the former.
weird how 25th hour was almost completely unnoticed when it was released, but a mere seven years later has gone on to become a modern classic... ebert, the avclub, a.o scott from the nytimes, and a bunch of others all called it amongst the best of the decade.
maybe more importantly, this may be spike lee's third 'great' film, (after do the right thing, and malcolm x)... 3, puts you in the pantheon of filmmakers as far as i'm concerned. he can make a dozen more she hate me/summer of sam's, and his place in filmmaking history will still be secure.