Based upon the novel King's Ransom by Ed McBain
Based upon Akira Kurosawa's "High and Low" (1963)
Screenplay Written by Alan Fox
Directed by Spike Lee
*** (three stars)
RATED R
Running Time: 2 hrs 13 min
To work with a sports metaphor, what we have here is a big swing but not quite a miss.
A drum that I will beat until my last breath, starring an opinion to which I feel that the man has never truly received the credit for which he is long deserved, Spike Lee has proven for nearly 40 years that he is one of our greatest living American filmmakers, whose idiosyncratic vision and full, distinctive body of work overall possesses an exceedingly high quality contained within its output. He exists as a born filmmaker and like any of our greatest cinematic storytellers, there is simply no one else on the planet who is like him.
Certainly, not every Spike Lee Joint has been top tier. There have not been some ambitious efforts that were more middling or misfired-"Girl 6" (1996), "She Hate Me" (2004), "Red Hook Summer" (2012), "Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus" (2014)--to impassioned efforts that felt undercooked--"Miracle At St. Anna" (2008)--and one utter disaster in "Oldboy" (2013).
With that taken into consideration, the arrival of Spike Lee's latest "Highest 2 Lowest" certainly carries its own cinematic weight as it marks the fifth pairing between Lee and one of or finest thespians in Denzel Washington, unveiling 19 years after their previous and excellent thriller "Inside Man " (2006), in addition to being a self described re-imagining of nothing less than Akira Kurosawa's "High And Low" (1963). And while all of the ingredients are present, the film ultimately buckles under its own aforementioned cinematic weight. It's good Spike Lee. Not GREAT Spike Lee. While I will take a good Spike Lee film over most of what is being released these days, I know that I wanted that unmistakable greatness and truthfully, that greatness seems to be a bit buried in the film's subtext when I would have rathered it flowed to the surface.
Spike Lee's "Highest 2 Lowest" stars Denzel Washington as legendary New York City music mogul with "the best ears in the business" David King, who resides literally on top of the world in a resplendent penthouse overlooking Brooklyn Bridge with his wife Pam King (Ilfanesh Hadera) and teenage son Trey (Aubrey Joseph).
With an ever changing music industry, King's Stackin' Hits record label is facing a buyout by a rival label. To avert this plan, King, who once sold his majority ownership, schemes to buy back his majority ownership, raising cash for the deal by putting up his personal assets including his penthouse and collection of artworks by contemporary Black artists as collateral.
On the day the deal is set to occur, King receives an anonymous phone call from a kidnapper (A$AP Rocky) demanding 17.5 million in Swiss 1000 franc notes in exchange for the safe return of Trey. What ensues is that the kidnapper has made an error, for Trey is not in his possession but mistakenly, it is Kyle (Elijah Wright), Trey's best friend and the son of King's best friend, confidant and driver Paul Christopher (Jeffrey Wright). This leads King to a shattering moral dilemma. Does he pay the ransom for a child who is not his own but was indeed stolen because of a vendetta against him?
Spike Lee's "Highest 2 Lowest" finds the filmmaker in his mode as an entertainer rather than as a firebrand. Like "Inside Man," this new film exists within that neighborhood, so to speak, as it embodies the form of a taut, tight thriller starring a protagonist who finds himself stretched to unimaginable limitations that threaten to upend all that has he spent his life building upwards.
Largely, I felt that the film was a quintessential New York story, from the gloriously filmed opening credit sequence to the depths of the street level turbulence in which David King finds himself, perfectly detailing, visually and metaphorically, the trajectory of David King's life, from its earliest years. to his grand success and potential crash back to Earth. In doing so, "Highest 2 Lowest" comfortably adds itself into Lee's oeuvre, which has chronicled the life of New York itself throughout Lee's lifetime via the lion's share of his films. The neighborhoods and boroughs of the 1970's via "Crooklyn" (1994) and "Summer Of Sam" (1999), to the then present day of the 1980's and 1990s in the likes of "She's Gotta Have It" (1986), "Do The Right Thing" (1989), "Mo' Better Blues" (19909), "Jungle Fever" (1991), and "Clockers" (1995) among others to the immediate aftermath post 9/11 with "25th Hour" (2002).
Simultaneously claustrophobic, intense and euphoric, Spike Lee showcases the overflowing to bursting life of New York City during a spectacular ransom drop sequence! It is a dizzying, cacophony of sight, sound, color, action and music exploding with the sheer force of life as an incognito David King, with ransom money in hand, is shuffled between train stops heading towards a New York Yankees game against the Boston Red Sox (!!) as well as an outstanding Puerto Rican Day Parade starring the late Eddie Palmieri and his orchestra.
Yet, "Highest 2 Lowest" is not all grand gestures as there are several quieter scenes that are equal in their emotional vigor and severity, including a stunning Father/son sequence between King and Trey, where as the Father, King asserts his dominance but as his son, Trey offers one line that makes the towering King buckle in his steps.
Despite those sequences and others, what struck me most about "Highest 2 Lowest" is that as a whole, it never really seemed to get its blood boiling, unlike "Inside Man," and to me, I felt this to be a striking flaw in a story of such palpable morality and inherent drama containing such high emotional stakes. It's strange to me because Spike Lee has consistently existed and excelled as one of our most fearless directors yet this time, it felt as if he and Denzel Washington-aside from a stellar moment during which King intuitively battle raps against the kidnapper-were pulling their punches, holding back a little when I felt they should have gone for the jugular.
But the subtext that exists is fascinating...
As David King, Denzel Washington portrays a figure who could exist as some amalgamation of Berry Gordy and Jay Z., a lion almost in the Winter of his life attempting to claim dominance over his kingdom for as log as humanly possible. Yes, the love for his family feels pure but once the money is placed front and center with the ransom, the morality play takes center stage.
I found it interesting that Denzel Washington, forever one of our most dashing and charismatic leading male actors, this time around, as David King and despite his magnanimous life style, appears to be a tad disheveled. His gorgeous suits look a tad too large for his frame. His gait feels to not have quite the exact same stride as we are used to witnessing. His hair and even his skin lack the perfective sheen. Even the opulence of his home feels to dwarf him. And for me, it felt as if his more slightly rumpled appearance feels as if it is suggesting that for all of the wealth and fame he has amassed over his life and career, it is in actuality, an increasingly uncomfortable fit...even though he would do anything to not leave this world behind.
To that end, I wondered if this was a film of self reflection for Spike Lee himself as like King, he has certainly amassed his own fortune through his own self made legacy, in film, business and teaching career. Was "Highest 2 Lowest" a means of Lee reminding himself to not only always remember from where he originated but to also never lose his moral compass in a world where the concept of morality is rapidly losing any sense of cultural value--therefore, a compelling message to impart to his own children.
I guess that I had wished more of David King's internal conflict combined with those subtextual elements emerged in greater fashion to the screenplay, which in turn would have enhanced the final product. Don't get me wrong. Spike Lee's "Highest 2 Lowest" is a good film. Again, this film is Lee providing mass entertainment rather than one of socio/political intent. Even so, all of the urgency felt to be just this far underneath the surface, depleting what could have been an exceedingly more vibrant and visceral experience than what has resulted.
In the end, everything felt to be a bit too easy, too pat and when I think of Spike Lee, easy and pat are not descriptions for the kind of storyteller and artist he typically is.
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