The 25th hour

Wow. If this is Spike Lee's joint, I want some of it. (Just kidding kiddies, say no to drugs.) Seriously, this is one heck of a film. The only thing I could possibly mark it down for, would be the opening shot with the dog, it just didn't seem very good quality. The video was all grainy. Maybe that was the intention, but I also kept wondering if that was a flash forward or a flashback, or how far back it was? I just didn't like it...perhaps a scene explaining how Monty found his dog was cut out and they quickly shot another one...who knows...doesn't matter. This flick is great. The acting is superb. Edward Norton gives an Oscar worthy performance, but it's Barry Pepper and Phillip Seymour Hoffman that steal the show, but unfortunately (for them) Anna Paquin steals it. She sure has a come a long way since The Piano. Tony "the goose" Siragussa was okay, but he did seem a little overthetop, but this a pretty good performace for a debut. The backdrop is NYC in post-9/11 era, there's shots of mourning, ground zero, an one big friggin rant by Monty Brogan...kinda unnecessary, but when he got to the Enron part, I almost screamed "Booyah!!!" outloud! The best thing about the movie is the end. It's kinda vague, so those who think Monty should go to prison, can think that, and those who think he has changed and should split town, can think that. Yeah, the last shot is on some NYS road, but I'm not familar with that, so who's to say that road couldn't have been going out of town? It's a vague ending, and you don't see that lately at the movies.