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The 25th hour - Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Spike Lee

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Can you change your whole life in a day?

The clock is ticking on Monty Brogan's (Edward Norton) freedom - in 24 hours, he goes to prison for seven long years. Once a king of Manhattan, Monty is about to say goodbye to the bright lights, his own big-city dreams, and the life he knew - a life that opened doors to New York's swankiest clubs but also alienated him from the people closest to him.

In his last day on the outside, Monty tries to reconnect with his father (Brian Cox), who's never given up on his son, and getting together withhis two closest friends from the old days, Jakob (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Slaughtery (Barry Pepper). Also in the mix is his girlfriend, Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), who might (or might not) have been the one that tipped him off to the cops. Monty's not sure of much these days... but with time running out, there are choices to be made and Monty's got some tricks up his sleeve that are about to be set in motion.

Theatrical propaganda posters

The 25th hour image

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

  • Film drama crime drug dealer New York prison

Persons of interest

  • Edward Norton .... Montgomery "Monty" Brogan
  • Barry Pepper .... Frank Slaughtery
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman .... Jakob Elinsky
  • Rosario Dawson .... Naturelle
  • Anna Paquin .... Mary D'Annunzio
  • Brian Cox .... Monty's Father
  • Paul Diomede .... Simon
  • David Benioff .... Author
  • David Benioff .... Screenwriter
  • Spike Lee .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Tries hard, could do better, doesn't play well with others.

The 25th hour, like most Hollywood films these days, is spoiled if you have seen any of the trailers or read the Propaganda. Knowing in advance that it's about a guy who's going to jail wipes out the tension for the first third of the film until the film finally catches up with the fact that Monty's going to jail. What would've been a nice little mystery as you try to figure out his strange behaviour turns into a long wait because you're ahead of the game.

If you're lucky enough to not know anything before you see the film, it's quite good. At times it gets pretentious (you know what directors are like, they just have to dip into their box of tricks) but overall it's a meaty drama about a small-time bloke going through the biggest event of his life and not handling it very well. Edward Norton is good, he usually is, and he takes some clothes off, if that interests you. The secondary characters - his friends, family and girlfriend - all have interesting stories but they distract you from the centrepiece: Monty goes to jail. The post-11 September World Trade Centre attacks provides an interesting backdrop to it all, but again it distracts, having almost nothing to do with Monty and absolutely nothing to do with his going to jail.

The 25th hour is an interesting film as long as you don't expect too much from it and if you can handle the rampant homophobia. (Guys do get raped in prison but a lot of guys learn to like it, just ask The boys.)

Media intelligence (DVD)

  • Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound
  • Disc: Single side, dual layer
  • Languages: English, Russian, Spanish
  • Picture: Widescreen (2.35:1)
  • Special features:
    • Commentaries
    • Deleted scenes
    • Featurettes:
      • Evolution of an American filmmaker
      • Ground Zero
  • Subtitles: Danish, English, English captions, English closed captions, Estonian, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish

Security censorship classification

MA 15+ (Medium level violence, medium level course language)

Surveillance time

135 minutes (2:15 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

Film: 5 June 2003
DVD rental: 17 September 2003
VHS rental: 17 September 2003
DVD retail: 21 April 2004

Cinema surveillance images

The 25th hour image
The 25th hour image

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