Director: Spike Lee
Cast: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera
Screenplay: Alan Fox
133 mins. Rated R for language throughout and brief drug use.

I’m not sure I’ve had such a 180 degree flip on a movie at the halfway mark as I did with the newest film from director Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman). Highest 2 Lowest functions as a loose remake of the Akira Kurosawa film High and Low as well as a loose adaptation of the novel “King’s Ransom” by Ed McBain. The back half of the film showcases some of Lee’s best and most cinematic tendencies, but first I had to get through some of the most sluggish and soap-opera-esque openings of any film in recent memory.

David King (Denzel Washington, Gladiator II) is a titan of the music business. He has the best ears for hearing and discovering new talent, and with that, he’s risen to the highest of highs, but times and tough, and his company is looking for a buyer, unless David can scrounge together the dough to take full ownership himself. His seemingly normal day is thrown into turmoil when he receives a call from an anonymous criminal, and he has to make some hard decisions about the importance of his wealth when weighed against the value of a human life.

As Highest 2 Lowest opens, two things become abundantly clear; the first being the wonderful production design for Spike Lee’s newest film. It’s clear he’s been allowed to spend that Apple money here, and the locations and artistic architectural look of the environments, from David’s home to his workplace, the lushness of the world Lee has created is rich and full.

The other realization to come out of the film’s opening few scenes is the terrible musical choices within the score. It’s an invasive and ridiculous score that overtakes every scene and injects with silly and overly melodramatic beats, damaging the effective performances in the process. The music is less apparent in the back half of the film, and it was there that I started to see what Washington and Jeffrey Wright (The Batman) were doing with their characters. There are solid performances in Highest 2 Lowest, but that musical score is doing far too much damage to many of the film’s wins.

There’s a tonal shift near the end of the first act that is exactly what Highest 2 Lowest needed. The first 45 minutes or so of the film are full of saccharine tones and melodramatic dialogue that I couldn’t believe this was a Spike Lee movie. David King is introduced as this loving, caring man who would do anything for the people around him, but when the criminal call comes in and he has to make hard choices, I didn’t buy the reveal of his uncertainty, which breaks the narrative. Lee’s able to cobble things together enough to save the back half, but it isn’t until David makes a significant character decision regarding the criminals about 45 minutes in (an impactful character choice that occurs offscreen) that the film picks up necessary momentum. From that point on, I loved it. The narrative beats, beginning with a money handoff, are excellently photographed, confusing when they need to be, and some of the character turns in the climax actually felt like earned character beats. The ending, including an impromptu but totally welcome music video, felt very Spike Lee, showcasing all the creativity and musicality of an absolute auteur. I can’t entirely figure out how the first act of this film went so sideways, but it became worth it to see they are going.

Highest 2 Lowest should perhaps have been called Lowest 2 Highest, as the first half of the film is deeply flawed, while its back half includes two incredible action set pieces that play off character choices and further the story while being tightly constructed and tensely captured spectacles on their own. It feels like the screenplay fully understands the characters by the end, but all the flaws are more notable because the first half just doesn’t work. Still, Lee has a strong control of cinematic language, always with his stamp, and Matthew Libatique captures some incredible visuals. It’s hard to recommend a movie that has a terrible opening, but the highest of highest that this film is heading for is just enough for me to give a marginal recommendation, provided you are willing to slog through the opening.

3/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

For my review of Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, click here.