EAT • SLEEP • REVIEW • REPEAT
HIGHEST 2 LOWEST
Director: Spike Lee
Writer: Alan Fox
Cast: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, A$AP Rocky, Ilfenesh Hadera, Aubrey Joseph, Wendell Pierce
Spike & Denzel reteam for an entertaining but highly erratic joint.
In the fullness of time, there can be little doubt that Spike Lee and Denzel Washington will be looked upon as one of cinema’s finest duos. From Mo’ Better Blues and He Got Game to Malcolm X and The Inside Man, this enduring director/star combo has been as good as anything else in the game for 35 years now.
The only real disappointing aspect of their cinematic relationship, however, is the fact that it’s been a full 19 years since their last hook-up. So the news that Spike and Denzel would finally be teaming up again – for an Akira Kurosawa adaptation, no less – feels like something to be cherished.
Having said that, after such a long period apart, do the pair still have the energy or the juice they once had to deliver something anywhere close to their peak?
When titan music mogul David King (Denzel Washington), widely known as having the “best ears in the business”, is targeted with a kidnap ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma that could have monumental consequences for both his family and his legacy.
What an oddly executed film. For anyone who’s a big fan of Spike Lee’s many filmmaking quirks, you’ll be happy to know there’s plenty of that present here, however, there’s definitely something else going on with Highest 2 Lowest that just feels off.
From the off, everything seems so oddly paced and only really gets going at the halfway point, then stops, then hits its peak in the second act, then bumbles along for far too long at the end, before finally calling it quits after a full 133 minutes. Roughly an hour in through, the plot finally puts its foot down and once it gets going, it really goes, however, either side of this peak, there are scenes full of painfully awkward dialogue, narrative incoherence, and strangely delivered performances that never quite feel like they’re going anywhere.
Thankfully, despite the rough start, when the plot kicks into gear and the film finally gets stuck into the heart of things – delving, as it does, into concepts of fame, the ever shifting nature of the music industry, the commodity of Black art, and the nature of criminal resentment – it’s all very engaging, yet, even in these bright moments, something always feels off. Neither quite the tense thriller nor the deep character drama it sets itself up to be, Highest 2 Lowest finds itself stranded somewhere in the middle of it all.
Jarring and inconsistent, the awkwardness of the film’s editing certainly doesn’t help matters, with various glaring continuity errors and strange double edits often coming across less like deliberate Spike idiosyncrasies and more like genuine errors. Consequently, the flow of the entire thing suffers, with the story never truly feeling like it gets going.
And this is all before you get to one of the most ill-judged scores you’re likely to have heard in a long, long time. Music is so often what makes a Spike Lee joint tick, and for a film directly about the music industry, you’d expect that to be doubly the case here, however, at times Highest 2 Lowest’s score sounds like a low rent Lifetime movie. It’s quite baffling that Spike thought it would be a good idea to stick what sounds like AI library music over his film, yet here we are, and at several points it becomes so overpowering that it undermines every scene it touches.
That said, around the score, Highest 2 Lowest’s music is, on the whole, pretty great. Blending hip-hop, soul, R&B, jazz, and Puerto Rican grooves, the film’s original soundtrack battles the score and does well to add depth, texture, and energy to a story that would struggle otherwise. Headlined by A$AP Rocky, Lowest 2 Highest’s soundtrack pulls us deep into the film’s energy and culture, making it all the more frustrating when the bizarre soapiness of the score undoes all the good work.
These music, editing, and plot issues really reflect Highest 2 Lowest’s problems overall, as Spike Lee struggles to fully grasp what he’s aiming for and what he wants us to get out of his film. Just as it finds its thriller feet, it changes direction, and then when we get to the juicy culture and character stuff, it shifts gears yet again, with Spike constantly scrabbling around to find his voice amidst the turmoil, all while simultaneously attempting to honour the Kurosawa original and ticking all the audience boxes Apple clearly requested of him.
Despite all of this, however, deep beneath Highest 2 Lowest’s messiness and shiny corporate exterior, the film’s beating heart can be felt, as Spike’s love and devotion comes through loud and clear. Whether it’s hip-hop, basketball, New York, or Kurosawa, the director’s love and the energy it creates is undeniable, managing to carry the film a surprisingly long way all on its own.
Of course, it always helps when you have Denzel on board doing Denzel things. It probably doesn’t need to be said at this point, but there really are few finer things to behold in cinema than Denzel Washington in full flow, and while Highest 2 Lowest certainly doesn’t see him at the very top of his game, his performance nevertheless remains something to behold.
Ably supported along the way by the never less than excellent Jeffrey Wright, Denzel makes the very best of the haphazard script and elevates the subpar dialogue to a whole other level entirely. His electric line delivery, magnetic mannerisms, and enthralling facial expressions are as astonishing as ever, as the star manages to take the film to places it has no right to go.
Since their very first time together on 1990’s Mo’ Better Blues, the Spike Lee/Denzel Washington hook-up has been one of the most fruitful director/actor partnerships in all of Hollywood, so any excuse for them to work with one another again is to be celebrated. And after nearly two decades apart, it just feels good to have them back together, regardless of the inconsistent quality of the final product.
While it’s far from the pair’s greatest hook-up, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington once again show why they’re one of the greatest cinematic duos in the game. Hampered by a terrible score, erratic editing, and a poor opening act, Highest 2 Lowest certainly isn’t either Spike or Denzel’s best joint, however, when things click, they click, as the film gradually grows to reveal the heart and the soul deep beneath its shiny corporate exterior.
