25th Hour

25th Hour tells a pretty compelling story, and what gives so much weight to the story is the fact that 25th Hour is not only a story of a young struggling mind but also it is a post-9/11 story. When I watched the movie for the first time, I just guessed that the movie was designed like that from the beginning, but I learned that Spike Lee did not plan that way initially as I listen to his commentary. The original story was written by David Benioff, and it was written as a novel. He completed 25th Hour screenplay once he and Spike Lee decided to make a movie, but he completed it before September 11th, 2001.

In the opening scene do we see blue twin lights beaming to the sky as they replace World Trade Center Twin Towers. Very powerful opening scene, but this was never a part of the original design because 25th Hour was never designed to be a post-9/11 movie. Another powerful scene takes place in Frank Slaughtery's (played by Barry Pepper) apartment. Frank and Jacob Elinsky (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) chat about Monty Brogan (played by Edward Norton) while the window behind them shows Ground Zero. This was certainly not a part of the original screenplay or the novel.

Sounds almost inappropriate given how tragic 9/11 was (and has been), but 9/11 made 25th Hour a fantastic movie in a funny way.