25th Hour Rating:  Starring: Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Peppe
UK Certificate: 18
Spike Lee returns in style, with his best work since Summer Of Sam. Edward Norton is Monty Brogan, a nice guy who just happens to have made his fortune by selling drugs to kids. But just when he thought he was out... they pull him back in. Cops swoop, and he gets sentenced to seven years.
The film follows him during his last day and night of freedom. We meet his beautiful girlfriend, Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), who he suspects may have ratted him out; his high-flying buddy Slaughtery (Saving Private Ryan's sniper Barry Pepper), and his English teacher pal Jakob (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who is trying very hard not to fall for the charms of one of his Lolita-esque students (Anna Pacquin). It all culminates in a hectic night out at a swanky club, where Monty must work out who his friends and enemies are, and Jakob has to stay sober enough to do the right thing.
Norton shows exactly why he deserves the constant Brando/
De Niro comparisons, and everybody else is outstanding too, including Brian Cox as Monty's level-headed working class dad. Gritty, intelligent, sexy and moving, and the monologue where Norton rages against the world in a bathroom is a classic.
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