I wrote this opinion in the other 25th Hour thread. I apologize in advance for the redundancy.

This is a movie review. As always, expect spoilers.

Let me preface by admitting that I had high expectations. Spike's movies always give a little more -- whether it be visuals, shock value, and then some. So I trekked into the hell that is Times Square to see 25th Hour as it is only playing in three theaters in the City, and I didn't feel like going crosstown.

First off, the acting was fantastic. Edward Norton is the man, as always. Barry Pepper really came through, which was a complete shock and delight to me. Philip Seymour Hoffman can really do no wrong. Brian Cox rocks. Rosario Dawson sucks as an actress, but she gets a pass for being the sexiest woman in movies.

Unfortunately, the movie is not at all plot driven. As one person said, New York does not merely act as the setting, but it is another character. Fuck that. New York was the whole damn movie. And generally, I love New York movies. Woody Allen, Igby Goes Down, etc. Fuck, I loved Vanilla Sky and was able to sit through Streets of New York (another Rosario Dawson flick) just because they made good use of the City.

Basically, I felt this movie would have worked better as a photo album, or a slide show, because Spike most definitely delivered some beautiful and poignant pictures of New York. Unfortunately, Spike doesn't make slide shows or photo albums, so instead he made a fairly shitty movie, and used it as a vehicle to displays his images.