Spike Lee’s latest film, starring Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright, is ending its short awards-qualifying run today and will be available only on Apple TV+ starting tomorrow. That’s a real shame, because it’s a rich visual bonbon that should be seen in the cinema. New York City pops with golden lights and ebony towers through the slick sheen of Matthew Libatique’s stunningly clear cinematography. Beautiful expensive cars I’ve never heard the names of sweep Washington’s record exec from decadent penthouse to open-concept workplace. It’s a shiny, tasty snow globe of a city, where the snow is replaced by stardust.
Wright is the man driving those exquisite exotic vehicles, as an ex-con (I love that “upstate” only means prison in this world.) who has become Washington’s right-hand man and live-in BFF. Wright is a widower, but his son is the best friend of Washington’s seventeen-year-old basketball star heir. Completing the penthouse crew is Washington’s elegant philanthropist wife. Their home is perfectly decorated with a monomaniacal eye to celebrating and patronizing great Black artists, singers, and athletes. It is as gorgeous as everything and everyone else.
Highest 2 Lowest (Really, Spike, must we have da 2?) is a remake of the extraordinary 1963 Akira Kurosawa film, High and Low. That film has always bounced on and off my Top 200 Films list, and I was a bit worried about how much would be changed in the translation from mod Japanese to hip American. Thankfully, it is an actual remake, and all the pieces remain in place!
I loved watching the original with no prior knowledge, so you can skip this paragraph if you wish to do the same, but in order to explain the plot, I have to reveal two very early developments that are a thrill to not see coming. So, spoiler: Denzel receives a call from a man who claims to have kidnapped his son and demands a $17.5 Million ransom. The police arrive, and the harried parents will do anything to get their son back…until he is found, out looking for his friend—Wright’s son—whom the kidnapper snatched by mistake. Suddenly, $17.5 Million sounds entirely unreasonable. It’s a simple but trenchant set-up that promises both police chase action and class conflict. It comes through in both cases.
For the most part, the film is taut and fun. Not having seen the original would have made it more thrilling, I assume, as I wouldn’t have known the plot. However, “for the most part” is the key phrase this time.
The film stumbles a couple times over small things like literally introducing Washington to a character whom we never see again or inserting Super 8 footage at random. The main issue, however, is the horrendous score! Thankfully, several long sequences are accompanied by other music, and they soar. But—especially in the first half—Howard Drossin’s score is the sonic equivalent of an eyesore. It is clunky, sentimental, and excessively dramatic, like something you’d hear on a telenovela. Why Spike Lee went with this is inexplicable. It ruins the important first half of the film, when we want to feel honest and complex emotions but are having artificial ones forced on us by the music.
Finally, the movie is riddled with Christian references that seem to be there for decorative texture. For instance, Denzel’s character is named David King and an important location is 333 Trinity Street. Despite underlining the power and eroding moral compass of David King/King David, these allusions never add up to anything. It’s just as maddening as the terrible score.
Bottom line: except for the invasive score and dead-end Biblical imagery, Lee does a great job of bringing Kurosawa’s masterpiece into the current age. The keys to finding the kidnapper are insultingly obvious, but once the movie shifts from looking at class and privilege to following speeding subway cars and motorcycles, the film works wonderfully. The acting is great. Denzel remains the actual king. And A$AP Rocky hold his own. Sadly, Dean Winters cannot be separated from his “Mayhem” character at this point, but at least there is a small joke acknowledging those commercials. The Spiked-up title never really makes sense, and I wondered why they didn’t just keep the perfect original name. I wish that I could endorse it more fully, but it is an excellent film…for the most part.