25th hour: a eulogy

monty: i need you to make me ugly.

if there was one movie to see today, it is 25th hour. 25th hour is a fantastic movie written by david benioff who adapted it from his own book of the same name. it stars edward norton, phillip seymour hoffman, and barry pepper and is directed by spike lee. the reason why i bring this up, is because of the connection it has to 9/11.

the movie is about monty (norton) who has one last day of freedom before he goes to prison for dealing drugs. his prison sentance is 7 years. the movie though is more of a eulogy, not only for norton's character, but for new york city. the movie opens up with images from the towers of lights, the temporary memorial created for ground zero. while norton's character is lamenting his fate, you not only feel for him, but you really feel for new york. throughout the movie, there are numerous nods to 9/11, including a scene in pepper's apartment that looks over ground zero. he and hoffman are discussing how monty has no future.

the movie is more than norton's character: it is an ode to new york. spike lee obvious loves the city a great deal, and he shows it through this movie. everything has changed for monty. everything has changed for new york.

25th hour was such an underappreciated movie. it is one of the best movies i've ever seen, and deserves to be revisted. on the anniversary of 9/11, this is definitely the movie to see. here is the trailer:



this second clip is of the famous "fuck you" speach that monty gives. in this scene, monty is angry and vents his frustrations in a vicious, racist fuck you rant to everyone in new york. but in the end, he ultimately realizes his anger should be directed at himself. it's absolutely amazing. take a look (warning: foul language and spoiler alert. scene has some spoilers, but it shouldn't ruin the movie experience for you. just don't watch if you want to stay completely spoiler-free):