User reviews

The music and the soundtrack makes this an almost unwatchable movie.

Too long.

The secondary roles are poorly acted.

The wife is not believable.

The plot is stretched and makes no sense.

The pacing is slow and hard to digest.

Missed opportunity to make a good movie.

Some scenes drag too long just for the sake of it.

It's difficult to take this movie in, or take it seriously. Ironically about a music mogul, Spike uses a continuous, distracting, misaligned, wildly inappropriate, cheesy score by Lawrence Manchester. The opening track was pure cringe. Hard to imagine what Spike could've been attempting beyond irony.

I guess the name of the movie Highest 2 Lowest is a pun on how "good" the movie is, a little high (Denzel and Jeffery's dramatic acting) and A LOT of LOWS (the entire script and poor acting from most of the cast). After watching the original movie High and Low by Akira Kurosawa I was intrigued to check out this remake by Spike Lee but gotta say I'm very disappointed in how far this movie falls short of Kurosawa's classic. In all honesty I don't believe Spike was the right person to even direct such a remake and instead I believe this movie should've been directed by someone like Scorsese who would've made the film the action thriller it should've been instead of this confusing mess that Spike Lee made. I'll rate this movie a 5 out of 10 due to the simple fact that the script is horrible despite Denzel Washington and Jeffery Wright carrying the movie, everyone else seemed like rookie actors who made the movie feel like a made for BET or Lifetime movie. I also have no idea why this movie went over 2 hours, lol I felt compelled to walk out the theater from being so underwhelmed with how cringeworthy the last 10 - 20 minutes of this movie became. I actually would've been more favorable towards this movie had it been shorter, like probably giving this a 6/10 but it just went on for far too long and quickly became a trainwreck to watch, it seemed as if Spike didn't even know how he wanted to end the movie so instead he prolonged it with unnecessary scenes. I believe this movie should've been released directly on Apple TV instead of having a short theatrical run.

I went into this film with high expectations, especially since it's a Spike Lee project starring Denzel Washington. Unfortunately, Highest 2 Lowest left me disappointed. The acting felt superficial and unconvincing, as if the performances were more about style than substance. For a story that's supposed to explore deep moral conflicts, the characters never really came alive for me.

Visually, the movie has its moments - colorful, energetic shots and a strong New York vibe - but that doesn't make up for the weak emotional core. The pacing was uneven, and instead of being drawn into the drama, I often felt detached, watching a performance rather than being immersed in the story.

Overall, it's a film with big names and bold visuals, but little depth. For me, it was more style than heart, and I walked away feeling underwhelmed.

⭐ Rating: 2/5.

An interesting concept with solid acting and a well paced execution. It's not Denzel Washington's best film, but it's still a good one.

Naturally, with the music industry being core to the film, the incidental music is varied and good. However, the background music is simply terrible, sometimes sounding like a schlocky drama and other times like a cheap soap opera and in several scenes, it totally broke the mood. It shows the value of having a good background track and this film simply doesn't.

I don't know if the intention was to make this movie feel like a soap opera, but unfortunately that's exactly how it played out. The pacing was uneven, the dialogue felt forced, and the story lacked real depth. The characters came across as flat and unconvincing, which left me very disappointed overall.

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!

I was excited for this movie and it was unwatchable. The score is so unbelievably bad. Every time someone speaks, there is music that makes no sense for the scene in the background so loud you can barely hear the voices. Think spaghetti western score but the movie is about the owner of a black music label.

2h13m. Is this an epic or an action thriller?

Denzel is a powerhouse capable of carrying the movie on his shoulders, but he could have used a little help from someone. Namely, editors. Cut 30 minutes out of the movie and you would have something a lot more interesting.

The story didn't have adequate dynamics to justify this run-time, not even close.

Im going to be generous with my rating here as I like to think we can give Spike the benefit of the doubt. I would like to know more behind some of the choices in this film especially the pacing, editing and music. It has to be on purpose because hes a legendary filmmaker right ? The first act of the film is so all over the place, I didn't believe the indoor set scenes at all, the house looked cheap and awful lighting. The music made no sense, everyone just looked too flawless the wife didn't have a hair out of place the entire time, the age gap was creepy.

The scenes where we go outside, the pursuit, the second and third act are much better. The changes of music genres fit its like as the subway is going through neighbourhoods the music is changing, it feels alive with the people. The end part dragged a bit but I guess there was some kinda resolution though I don't get why we had to see multiple scenes of the same ASAP rocky song. It felt like A24 were trying to make a tv movie at times, it was an odd mix with all who were involved.

One of the most overrated films I've seen. The background sound is loud and irritating throughout, the acting is poor, and the pacing drags a story that could have been told in 45 minutes into a painfully stretched 135-minute runtime. Overall, a very disappointing movie that completely fails to engage or entertain.

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.

It's a movie about a music mogul so they play cringe worthy music louder than the actors talking. I couldn't even pay attention because of the music that belongs in an ironic 80s show. Spike Lee missed a huge one with this. This movie had potential for great acting and Denzel was the alley oop to a great story but Spike failed with everything. It's a movie where you can guess the next scene before it even happens.

I loved seeing Spike Lee and Denzel Washington teaming up again for a new film. From start to finish, though, the movie felt scattered-jumping around with no clear plot or objective. As expected, Denzel did his thing and really carried it. A$AP Rocky wasn't bad, and Ilfenesh Hadera held her own, but overall the film was just... okay. At times, it definitely gave off Godfather of Harlem vibes, and it was New York through and through from beginning to end.

Movie Grade:C-/C.

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.

Its an ok movie but they did not hire Hans Zimmer for this one I can tell you....just irritating and not setting the mood at all for the scenes. Denzel is great as always the story is nothing new but keeps you interested enough. The other characters standing in the shades of Denzel here doing what they can with the story they got.

Worst series of acting jobs imaginable. How can a film with Denzel and Jeffrey Wright have such absolutely awful scenes? The story was one thing, but completely lost in the terrible dialogue.

Dean Winters character made my stomach turn. So bad, so awful. A man who has given us the world's most ridiculous and fantastic insurance commercials the last decade, to then be cast in this movie, as the most unbelievable, laughable, terrible cop... what are we doing?

Nearly turned it off 5 times but held on for hope the greatest actor in the last 30 years (Denzel) would somehow save it. That hope got me to the end but left me so disappointed in the previous 2 hours.

By the end, I was left with reflection: was Spike Lee trying to make a comedy while trying to make a thriller? Because again, the acting was that painful.