 The New York Post has reason to be particularly pleased about a line of dialog in the new Spike Lee film 25th Hour -- a line that is included in Post critic Lou Lumenick's review of the movie. (The film, originally released in Los Angeles and New York on Dec. 22, is getting a wider release this weekend.) The scene is shot in front of a picture window in a high-rise overlooking Ground Zero while searchlights illuminate clean-up work below. (The film is the first to deal directly with the Sept. 11 attacks.) "The New York Times says the air is bad down here," says the character played by Philip Seymour Hoffman). "F *** the Times," replies the apartment's owner, played by Barry Pepper. "I read the Post. The EPA says the air's OK." So is the movie, most critics agree -- despite its grit. Lumenick himself concludes that the movie "confirms that Spike Lee -- with his most assured and mature work, as well as one of the year's finest films -- has indeed succeeded Woody Allen as our city's reigning cinematic bard." Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune also describes 25th Hour as "one of the best movies of 2002," and remarks: "The movie, harsh and ugly as much of it may seem, is a real love poem to the city and its people. It's also a tribute to resilience in the face of disaster." Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post concludes her review of the movie this way: "Lee has created that rarity in filmmaking: a movie we need, right now." Nevertheless, Lee has plenty of detractors. Glenn Lovell, who writes for the San Jose Mercury News and the Knight Ridder wire service, comments: "All the standard raps against Spike Lee -- that he's undisciplined, indulgent, and given to heady riffs that threaten to swamp his central narrative -- apply to 25th Hour." And Peter Howell in the Toronto Star sniffs: "It's all very timely and moving, but what does it have to do with a story about the last hours of freedom of a convicted drug pusher? Is Lee making a gritty urban drama or auditioning to make the next series of "I Love New York" commercials?" |
