1/5 25th hour....
  by D. Reid (Olympia, Washington United States)
All the ranting in this movie make me sick, the F... word is the only thing you can hear but no substance to the story, the only part that deserve attention is at the end when Monty's dad gave him advice on how to carry on with his life after he is out jail.....I do not recomend this movie to anyone but I do respect the opinion of everybody else about this movie and I you like it or curious about it...go ahead...watch it

5/5 A Masterpiece
  by YJM (Somewhere In The South)
Well I'm coming late to the party since this film came out six years ago, but better late than never. Just caught this movie for the first time on cable tv and boy am I happy I decided to watch it. This was a "oh heck, let's give this movie a shot since nothing else is on" type of movie. What a terrible loss it would have been not to see it.

I don't use the term "masterpiece" loosely. As a matter of fact I can't remember the last movie I referred to a movie as a "masterpiece." If any film deserves that title it's 25th hour. Edward Norton has to be one of the best actors of our time. The rest of the cast is sensational as well. What a brutally honest, moving tribute to the resilience of New York City and the resilience of the human spirit to endure in the face of hardship and tragedy. It's also about how the choices we make in life affect so many people around us. This film reminds me very much of Before The Devil Knows Your Dead, an amazing film as well that deals with the choices life presents us and the consequence of those choices. Not coincidentally Philip Seymour Hoffman stars in that film as well along with Ethan Hawk. All tremendous actors in their own right.

Anyway, I could go on, but I've said what I needed to. For plot reviews, well you can get that from the other Amazon reviewers or from the Amazon synopsis. I just felt it would be criminal to see a film like 25th hour and not let a potential Amazon customer know how I feel about it. If you value incredible acting, fantastic writing, a well developed storyline, and extremely thought provoking messages in your movies, then by all means buy this movie. You'll get all of that and then some.

5/5 Brilliant!
  by Leslie J. Erdo
This resonated and awakened within, held me hostage and didn't let me go until the very end. Poignant, warm, serious, absorbing, plus the eye popping visual shots Spike Lee brings to the screen, simply put, was brilliant...absolutely brilliant! Ed Norton, is certainly spectacular...very much enjoyed because this is one movie, I couldn't figure out right to the end. Loved it!!!

5/5 Fabulous movie!!!!
  by V. Hamilton (California)
Edward Norton is so good in this film. If you enjoy his movies, then I would get it. It is a must have.

4/5 Thought provoking movie (but checkout the book)
  by Siriam (London United Kingdom)
The 25th Hour (DVD)

While much focus under reviews of the movie has been on Spike Lee's involvement in the film of the book and use of the post 11/9 setting, this in large part overlooks that the movie started with the great asset of a well written novel with a unique and timely story. In addition the using of the author David Beniofff to also write the screenplay seems to have ensured that much of the book's strengths were not lost in the transition to the screen.

Despite the few sops made from the book to Hollywood story lines (an over emphasis on did the girlfriend betray the lead character now destined for 7 years in jail and the resultant conversion of the ending), there is much to admire in the movie especially in tracking the story mix of the course of the lead actor Ed Norton's last day of freedom and the flashbacks needed to explain why matters have turned out as they have.

While the film's main emphasis is inevitably on Norton, what is more interesting is how he pales (relatively) against the ensemble of other support roles from the spot on Wall Street financial trader aggression of Barry Pepper; the adrift personna of introverted academic Philip Seymour Hoffman; the confused Puerto Rican girlfriend of Rosario Dawson and the pained widowed father of Brian Cox. The film makes great use of long set up fixed shots where the book's core themes of friendships and personal loyalties under pressure are endlesssly explored, with most dramatic effect in two scenes from an apartment overlooking the cleared World Trade Centre site and in a bar scene before the party moves on to a dance club.

While Spike Lee deserves full credit for evoking the NY story and setting, this is definitely a production that is the sum of its many great parts (and the audio commentary from Lee and Benioff included as a DVD extra reconfirms this).