Movie review: The 25th Hour

The 25th Hour is a film about grief. What makes it unique is that the main character is not dead but is instead going to prison for seven years. Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) was a small-time drug dealer in New York City. As the film opens, someone has snitched on him and tomorrow he goes upstate to jail. He spends much of the day wandering around the city with his dog, Doyle, remembering his glory days. He eats a last meal with his father (Brian Cox), a retired fireman who is a recovering alcoholic and owns a bar. At night he has a going away party with his girlfriend, Naturalle (Rosario Dawson), and two old friends Frank (Barry Pepper) and Jacob (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) at the club his supplier owns. At the club Jacob runs into Mary (Anna Paquin), a student on whom he has a crush.

The film is slow, elegiac, as you would expect from its subject. With the exception of a rant from Monty, all of the actors give subdued performances. While this illustrates the mood of the piece, it doesn't arrest your attention. The question of who turned in Monty is given some attention, but the question is addressed in a resigned fashion as the answer can't save Monty from his fate now.

The piece that most resonated with me was a monologue given by Monty's father who speaks longingly of the life that won't be. I felt his father's regret for the days gone by and his love for his son. It really made the movie for me.