Highest 2 Lowest

Spike Lee has one of his best films ever in Highest 2 Lowest, a traditional police procedural but intellectually elevated by being based on a masterful 1963 Akira Kurasawa ransom film, High and Low, with the same trajectory to classic as the adaptation of Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai into The Magnificent Seven. Highest 2 Lowest is one of the best movies of the year and one of the top crime movies of all time.

Music mogul David Kin (Denzel Washington) is threatened to be personally and professionally dethroned by the kidnapping of his son, Trey (Aubrey Joseph), by criminals unknown until later. It is revelatory to see the police navigate kidnapping with the social-media challenges that attack the high-profile dad for the way he deals with the demands of the crooks, the public, and morality.

Lee has a field day playing the racial tensions between the races, including this time Puerto Rico and Cuba and who knows how many others in the biggest melting pot ion the world. Lee makes the conflicts lyrical with music that inspires community and love.

The love letter to New York by cinematographer Matthew Libatique is beautiful as well as complementary to the complex plot and the NY vision usually accompanying a Lee movie. The beautiful landscape belies the ugly proceedings as King is morally challenged by a twist in which he becomes responsible for the ransom of a child not his own. It's a personally and publicly Hobson's choice that Denzel handles with Oscar-nominating dexterity.

Oscar-worthy is his face off with the kidnapper. The rapping motif is jaw-droppingly expert and electrifying. Denzel carries it off with the cool mastering that makes him one of the top actors of his generation.

In a logical comparison with Michael Douglas's Gordon Gekko of Wall Street, Denzel's King is less impressive if only for the wide range Douglas's script gives, yet the studio rapper scene in Higher is a tour de force for Denzel. Look for this outstanding drama on Apple TV+. Just don't miss Highest 2 Lowest.

Expected more from Spike Lee. Very misfitting score that belonged in a Star Wars type film. We don't need loud distracting music over every scene. The double edited shots were also distracting and over done. Bad acting from many of the supporting cast. Slow start, could have easily tightened the edit. This film didn't seem to know what it was. No clear vision. A little preachy. And a kind of dull story line with no twist!

The overall good reviews suckered me into giving this a chance but it was a major letdown. I haven't rolled my eyes and thought "this is so cringe" so many times in a movie before. TERRIBLE editing and pacing. Very boring...jumping around skipping crucial scenes you'd expect to see. It seemed like it was written by a 13 year old. Some very bad acting...almost walked out early on but was hoping for a payoff that never really comes. Out of the whole 2+ hours there was maybe like 5 minutes of what I would call good or interesting choices. It's so over the top and cheesy, including most of the music that is getting undeserved praise. A lot of times it doesn't fit with what's happening on the screen much at all. A24 should be ashamed of being attached to this.

Spike Lee movies are always a hit or miss with me. Loved his first, She's gotta have it, Malcolm X (too long), Do the Right Thing (too long), but I never got past the few other movies I saw. IMO the scoring of his movies is atrocious. And he seems to stretch out the scenes filled with dialog too long to the point you want to say "cut" or edit. And that's what I felt watching this "Apple Studio" movie. Spike in an interview said Apple was the only studio that would finance it. It's going straight to stream in about two weeks.

The acting is subpar and his close-ups of Denzel pondering decisions are laughable. Most of the actors are TV actors so that explains it the subpar-ness.

The movie perks up when the ransom drop takes place, but even then you wonder - WHAT the H? The money bag is passed from moto biker to moto biker and the police lose the actual money bag. From my understanding when there's a kidnapping and ransom of a high-powered executive like David King, the FBI takes the lead. Did Spike NOT do his home work?

Denzel is in every scene and that can be a bit too much. I wished to see more of the police work to find the kidnapper, but that falls to Denzel and his chauffeur. Which wouldn't happen in real life. An executive of a record company wouldn't go on the hunt himself. IMO. He would have security do it. Which was also a head-scratcher. The music executive did not have a bodyguard. Even JayZ has a bodyguard.

If you have Apple TV, I would recommend you wait for Highest2Lowest, it will be streaming in a week.

I have always been a Spike Lee fan. I was interested in this movie since I saw the original Japanese film. This movie was similar to the original but just in a modern iteration. Despite the minimal negative reviews this is still an entertaining film. The art work in the film and the soundtrack are a must see/ hear!