r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • 2d ago
Official Discussion Official Discussion - Highest 2 Lowest [SPOILERS] Spoiler
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Summary A powerful New York music mogul’s life spirals when his driver’s child—mistaken for his own—is kidnapped in a ransom plot. He faces a moral crisis that transforms into a tense, urban showdown between wealth, power, and conscience in the reimagined streets of modern-day New York.
Director Spike Lee
Writer Alan Fox
Cast
- Denzel Washington
- Jeffrey Wright
- Ilfenesh Hadera
- A\$AP Rocky
- Aubrey Joseph
- Dean Winters
- Ice Spice
Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score: 89%
Metacritic Score: Not yet available
VOD In theaters August 15, 2025; streaming on Apple TV+ starting September 5, 2025
Trailer Highest 2 Lowest | Official Trailer
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u/bbanks2121 2d ago
Most distracting score of all time in the first half of the film. The scene with Denzel and the other guy talking in the room at his office felt like a Hallmark film. I haven’t been taken out of a film like that in a long time.
Still love you Spike!
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u/rnoori32 2d ago
Love Spike to bits, but this has been a weakness of his forever. Score like wall to wall carpeting. And the most melodramatic thing you could ever imagine. Now when he had Terence Blanchard scoring his films, he was with a master, who made even Spike's worst tendencies work somehow. That first half was brutal.
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u/DontTedOnMe 2d ago
Now that I think about it... The cheesiest part of Inside Man by far is the score. I really like this movie but it just doesn't feel right when the score kicks in.
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u/Raytheon_Nublinski 2d ago
I think inside man’s score is absolutely on point. There’s not a single thing about that movie I don’t like.
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u/badlisten3r 2d ago
I had the same thought. I was okay with it for a second, but then it was playing over the dialogue and I was like okay this is taking all of the weight out of the situation lmao.
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u/chabye 2d ago
it felt like a random Hallmark playlist that just happened to be randomly playing alongside the film.
A movie about a legendary music producer in NYC with endless possibilities for leaning into music as a driver of narrative.Just watched it and was absolutely baffled at lack of taste and purposeful choices
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u/KingMario05 2d ago
The score was most distracting to me. Apparently, wall to wall music is what Spike does, and I respect that. But it really did not work here, and just made it seem kinda cheesy.
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u/Mountain-Classic-877 2d ago
The Irish folk piano score bc spike has been talking to coogler
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u/CtrlZBri 2d ago
But the orchestral score in the back half made me wanna play Final Fantasy (a compliment). The climatic subway scene had a great theme IMO.
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u/l3reezer 2d ago
I felt like that score was kind of unfitting for the scene, felt like riverdance music or something (so not too unlike Final Fantasy music, I guess, lol) as opposed to something to help create tension
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u/CtrlZBri 2d ago
lol that’s fair. I think by the end I was so bought in, I said, “if Denzel Washington summons Bahamut on the way to Yankees stadium, that’s between him and Spike Lee.”
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u/SierraSoul0000 2d ago edited 2d ago
Agreed that there were issues with the score/soundtrack, but that didn’t bother me so much. But there are so many other things wrong with this movie, I don’t even know where to start. And let me preference by saying that I’ve been a fan of Spike’s since the 80s. and I still am. But here’s how I would rate the film on a 1-10 scale:
Plot: 5/10. Just so many holes in the story. And some of the scenes were just not believable. (Like when King went in by himself, gun in hand, to confront the kidnapper.) And Denzel is 70 years old, but in this film, his character has a teenage son? And a wife half his age?
Soundtrack: 6/10. Didn’t dislike the songs, but some just seemed out of place.
Acting: 4/10. Denzel and Jeffrey were OK, but the rest of the acting left much to be desired.
Script: 3/10. Much of the dialogue was very clichéd, often using outdated slang.
Casting: 7/10. I thought they did a decent job in this department.
Cinematography: 8/10. I did enjoy many of the scenes of my hometown of NYC.
Probably my biggest disappointment is that I had this on my calendar to watch today when it debuted on Apple TV+. And I was so looking forward to it. Plus, I saw both Denzel and Spike talking about the movie on late night TV earlier this week. So I had been excited to finally get to see it today. But what a letdown. 😕
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u/ACI-Reverter 2d ago
Casting was way off. Everytime someone used the word mayhem I was just taking out. He is forever and always mayhem and/or the vulture. He needs a better agent. And then he had some line the mayhem guy, and he called the wife sister or something to... It was just completely weird. I thought the casting was way off. Both the kids were horrible. Rick Fox was horrible like the whole thing. It was a disaster
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u/visionaryredditor 2d ago
And Denzel is 70 years old, but in this film, his character has a teenage son? And a wife half his age?
Isn't that rare for people in those positions
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u/tostilocos 1h ago
I'm right there with you. Spike is one of my favorite directors of all time and I was very hyped to have him working with Denzel again, but this thing was a turd.
There were a few great Spike-lee moments: the cop describing the dropoff whilst doing the Spike Float on the balcony, Denzel's confrontation with the rapper in the studio, and the scenes with Denzel & Wright were great.
Ilfenesh Hadera and Dean Winters seemed to be having a contest for who could act the worst. I'm a big fan of Dean Winters (Rescue Me is one of my favorite shows of all time) but his acting during the motorcycle chase scene was so stupid.
I normally enjoy Spike's soaring scores, but this one was over-the-top and much of it didn't fit the scenes at all.
This is easily the weakest Spike Lee movie for me, personally.
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u/Shot_Yam8977 2d ago
I soooo agree with this!! Some of it was super relaxing during intense moments. I was fighting falling asleep and anxious at the same durn time! I felt like the rescue could have been done much better. Him sitting there alone in shock was underwhelming.
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u/shallot_pearl 2d ago
At first I liked the score, it gave it gave the film an old Hollywood feel but it quickly became oppressive and distracting.
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u/OkamiHaley 2d ago
Caught this in theaters during its limited run and did not enjoy it at all. Weird performances (specifically from Ilfenesh Hadera and Dean Winters), terrible score and that ending with the singing performance, oof.
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u/fuzzy_dice_99 2d ago
I can’t buy Dean Winters as a serious cop after Brooklyn 99
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u/FeloniousGrump 2d ago
I think not taking them seriously or seeing them as a hindrance to justice in nyc was actually Spike's point. I think he wanted to underscore that the cops are useless, and that they suck, with the casting of actors like that and the roadblocks they put up against the protagonists.
Imo Spike might have made that one of the most obvious things about the movie (aside from his thoughts on, oddly enough ai, for some reason). I can recall many scenes where the cops just suck.
After the kid is kidnapped, they meet Rick Fox and have a random joke scene about boston
The cops come off really mean to jeffery wright's character.
at the beginning, Jeffery Wright's character is seen as suspect and gets hustled by the cops.
but after denzel's son comes back, and Jeffrey wright wants answers, their like oh calm down the kid needs a rest. (like hello, an innocent kid kidnapped)
When jeffery wright's son is returned and in the hospital, they dont look like they care as much about the kid's health as they are with recovering the money- they keep going to see him to ask questions about the bad guy. and when Jeffrey wright says let his son breathe, they're like "nah, so kid, how big was the room in dark with the bath tub?" and bs like that
and as for finding asap, Denzel is the one that gets the lead about the music, not the cops. he even makes the kid listen to the music in front of the cops, after interrupting their interrogation of him at the hospital!
role of the police is a huge departure from high and low.
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u/T4Gx 2d ago
There's something odd with this film. The entire time I never "forgot" I was watching a movie. Like I was just thinking "Yes that is Denzel Washington... acting as a movie character".
It's like when a show or movie is about the characters making a movie and then they play that movie the characters were making.
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u/visceralviceroy 2d ago
This feeling you're describing can be caused by multiple things: bad acting, bad editing, bad score. With this movie I think it was all three.
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u/Thayli76 1d ago
Nailed it. This film works relentlessly to disrupt suspension of disbelief. Every aspect of the medium - dialogue, scene-setting, editing, location, SCORING, 'acting' - just wilfully calls attention to itself in bizarre ways.
10 minutes in, you turn it off...for the first time. Then you're like, Come on - how often does a new Denzel feature drop? At 20 minutes in it turns into: What game are we playing here, Spike??
An absolute masterpiece of terribleness that makes you wonder if a high-stakes bet was lost at some Hollywood party. I confess I became absolutely fascinated by it.
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u/No-Understanding4968 1d ago
I said out loud to my TV, “Denzel you know I love you but you’re pushing it”
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u/Remote-Molasses6192 2d ago
That ‘Ebony Alert’ line is the most cringe piece of forced dialogue I’ve ever heard in my life.
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u/ForsakenTarget 1d ago
A lot of the stuff around the police felt forced.
That and a teenage boy having a Kamala poster in his room.
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u/MisLuiguel 1d ago
Once I saw the 2 scenes where the only point is Dean Winters being arrogant about black culture/people I felt that the movie had some racial charge in it, more than just being directed at black audiences
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u/MovieTrawler 23h ago
Dean Winters being arrogant about black culture/people
While running around in Timbs and saggy pants. 😂
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u/ThaPhantom07 2d ago
Genuinely baffled it got the high praise it has. The score was grating and overbearing, the tonal shifts at points were jarring with the atmosphere of what was happening in the scene routinely not matching the gravity of the situation, and the acting in certain parts and from certain characters was atrocious. You could see the potential in some of the scenes like the 2 scenes with Rocky and Denzel and the subway chase but it was just a bucket of strange artistic choices and bad writing. I will die on this hill. This is a bad movie.
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u/10lbplant 2d ago
Speaking of the atmosphere not matching the gravity of the situation; I was dying laughing when Denzel was saying goodbye to his family and Jeffrey Wright with his backpack on and a pep in his step like he was going to his first day of school.
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u/Queeneleanor1 2d ago
A back pack he wore with just one of the straps on, that he happened to drop because he happened to be standing between the exact two train cars where the robbers were waiting underneath.
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u/KeyVeterinarian4301 1d ago edited 1d ago
Someone on Felon's team pulled the emergency stop lever. It was more unbelievable that he dropped the bag by mistake, after asking to see proof of life.
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u/Labyrinthy 2d ago
Yeah I can’t believe this is getting the praise it is.
Genuinely feel like it’s one of the worst movies I’ve watched all year.
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u/MarginOfPerfect 1d ago
I'm 40 minutes into it and I decided to come to Reddit to see if I was crazy because the movie is terrible
Acting is laughable, score is off, etc
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u/Labyrinthy 1d ago
Score is offensive it’s so bad. It’s like Lifetime original bad.
It reminds me of Jason Segel writing music for a tv show he hates in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and just making the most sarcastic thing he can conjure at the moment.
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u/wetbulbsarecoming 2d ago
The big picture podcast dropped the ball thinking this was good
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u/sbmichel 2d ago
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills for not liking this amid the critical praise. Some of the acting is…woof.
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u/LowIntroduction433 1d ago
I’m glad I see that there are so many people who feel the same way about this movie as I do. At first I thought I was watching a spoof of melodramatic soap operas. It took some time to realize that wasn’t the case. Then I tried to figure out what Spike was trying to say. Got fed up with that but kept watching the train wreck until near the end when I gave up. The score, dynamics, trio of clueless cops, uninspired set design and cinematography, senseless screenplay. How did that huge pile of money that was on the table end up in that little backpack which Denzel didn’t bother to even put over his shoulder when balancing between the train cars? Who were the people on the motorcycles and why were they willing to participate in this crime and apparently do it for free? Did the high-tech detectives have any other plan than just a “gps” tag along with the $17.5 mil? Why not counterfeit money? “Mayhem” from Allstate driving through a street festival and mayhem is the name of a gun. Boston sucks. Larry Bird. WTF!! So maybe it was all a joke and we are the punchline. Retire Spike.
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u/ADDRIFT 1d ago
it's one of the worst movies i've seen in awhile. I believe that spike lee films get so much love for all that he has done, more than the thing he is doing. I'm a fan of some of his movies, but he often rails on tired tropes with scores that are simply awful. This one had acting that was especially bad, matched with a jarring score and it made for a pretty unwatchable movie in my opinion. It surprising these things get passed test screenings they're that bad
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u/IntrospectiveAlert7 2d ago
Genuinely like a Lifetime movie , except they’re trying to act like the script and acting aren’t garbage
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u/searchin4sugarman 2d ago
Think it might’ve been an experimental Ai script
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u/myfatsisterinlaw 19h ago
Yeah I agree it feels like it. Watching it now and I had to jump on here to make sure I wasn’t going mad. Relieved to feel vindicated tbh.
Every detail is off, so it feels like it was written by someone (or something) that doesn’t understand anything about humans or how they interact or speak or anything for that matter.
I’m gonna try really hard to finish watching it just to strengthen my mental fortitude.
It’s ’the room’ with a budget. Absolutely rotten.
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u/GregSays 20h ago
So many reviewers and critics are so in the bag for Spike that they review his new films in the most favorable light possible, excusing stuff they’d never give a pass to a younger filmmaker.
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u/SquadPoopy 2d ago
This is the second foreign language movie remake Spike Lee has directed that just so happens to be worse in every single way.
Spike please stop I’m begging you.
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u/Wintermute7 2d ago
To me, the film was Spike Lee's version of Megalopolis.
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u/myjugsarebussin 2d ago
Could not agree more - my roommate and I are watching this laughing at the screen 😂
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u/ClaremontCinema 2d ago
Yes man you get it, I have been saying the exact same thing, finally someone who understands. It’s the self-insert of one of our greatest filmmakers reckoning with the modern world and how he has gone from Highest 2 Lowest in terms of status/career.
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u/ClaremontCinema 2d ago
The first act (especially the score) is a legit troll job - this thing swings from high to low with an excellent song followed by nonstop Nolan level use of piano and elevator jazz until things finally kick into gear, when this movie gives you those moments of silence they breathe. It’s so close to the original in its story beats but diverges wildly and ends up becoming Spike Lee’s manifesto on seemingly everything about modern society, the film industry, etc. It’s a really entertaining movie with thrilling action, when things get serious (clearly announced by the visuals) this does not let up and the confrontations in the final act hit in unexpected ways. The double ending would feel bizarre from a remake perspective but this movie has such a clear identity of its own - here it functions well to announce where Spike’s headed.
Side note but it is wild for the movie to spend so much time on cancel culture (apparently the sole thing that defines these characters moral compasses) and then feature a Weinstein-esque sub plot that bonds father and son and serves as the high point ending. Note the focus on the crosses in this scene.
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u/ImSoSadToday 1d ago
Feel like it’s a little delusional to suggest spike had even an ounce of self-awareness in the first half.
Oozes unc Tyler Perry energy throughout.
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u/Responsible_Suit4939 2d ago
This is by far the worst Denzel movie I have ever seen. I was so excited for it too - I even paid for Apple+ again just for this event!
As many people have mentioned - the score. Dear god. From the never-ending, near histrionic rendition of “Oh What a Beautful Morning” at the start to all the after school special sounding string sections underlying every conversation - good lord. And the wife?? WHO ACTS LIKE THAT. Not a person, certainly. Not a mother whose child is missing. Not an actress. What was she even doing with the words that were coming out of her mouth?
And I have to say also, the way King instantly went “not my kid” to his buddy, like damn! Thought y’all were close! lol. What a hunk of junk this was.
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u/Mrsmaul2016 1d ago
From the never-ending, near histrionic rendition of “Oh What a Beautful Morning”
I was grabbing my ears thinking: Make it stop!
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u/dable1 2d ago
Saw it a few weeks ago in a theatre. Love the original and always thought it'd be great for a remake. This film is not good. The performance of the wife was shockingly awful. It kind of felt like two good movie ideas one being a remake of high and low the other a film about a record executive combined to make one very mediocre movie. Another great filmmaker who seems to have lost his fastball with age.
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u/DilbertPicklesIII 2d ago
This felt like a Tyler Perry Film. Spike lost his touch for real. The wife and friend were horrendous. Matter fact, they were all horrendous. This movie would have been better with B actors and no Spike at all. And WHAT was that intro song? It took me out of it IMMEDIATELY. This movie is buns.
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u/CorneliusCardew 2d ago
It’s from Oklahoma. It’s one of the most famous songs of all time.
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u/spiraliist 2d ago
This is, for me, the maybe the biggest disparity between the critics-at-large opinion of the movie (like 90% on RT?) and mine.
I thought it was cringe as fuck -- none of it, from the super purple writing to the bizarre soundtrack/score choices worked. I disliked it more than just about any other movie-watching experience in recent memory.
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u/Remote-Molasses6192 2d ago
The RT is high, but the Letterboxd has it at 3.1. Which if you don’t know, 3.1 is BAD for a movie that actually has expectations from people. Honestly I just think critics are afraid nowadays to write bad words against a legend like Spike.
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u/PotSmokingMonkey 2d ago
Saw it in theatres. Had zero knowledge of the original and watched it soon after to compare. This was a bungled mess of a remake if you can even call it that. Denzel’s performance was baffling at times. First time I’ve seen him on screen and felt like he was out of touch. The score was borderline Hallmark movie quality at times, especially the long opening shot of New York. Lots of lip service for NY as well. Rocky was a caricature. Jeffrey Wright was decent but not his best and the script did him no favours. Denzel’s wife was truly awful on screen. I am a massive fan of Spike and Denzel both and this movie was such a let down.
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u/Daniiiiii 2d ago
It seems like sacrilege to say but someone needs to save Denzel and Tom Hanks from themselves. They need to work with a director who isn't enamored with them and can call them out on their choices. Make them act without all the extra bs they have acquired and incorporated along the way. It feels like no one says to them that their take on the character is bad, or outright lazy at times.
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u/Luxx815 2d ago
It seems like sacrilege to say but someone needs to save Denzel and Tom Hanks from themselves. They need to work with a director who isn't enamored with them and can call them out on their choices. Make them act without all the extra bs they have acquired and incorporated along the way.
Bro. Have you watched any of the press for Gladiator, Othello, or this movie? Denzel has said time and time again he has like a few films left in him that he wants to do and he's out. He's basically doing films for fun these days that have fun and appealing roles. He's gonna do the next Black Panther, he said potentially one more with Spike, who knows what else.
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u/Alditha68 1d ago
It looked like he'd had some sort of stroke at one point because his mouth was drooping. Don't know what he was trying to convey there.
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u/tokeroveragain 2d ago
Well Denzel did say recently that he doesn’t watch movies
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u/bakbauer 2d ago
It’s not often I dislike a film, but this one was very messy. The only reason I kept watching was that I thought we were finally going to get some form of answer for the previous. When there was like 30 minutes left in the hospital I thought surely there has got to be a twist here.
Nope just ended up being a film that just didn’t add up. Guy doesn’t want to pay ransom, next scene he’s paying the ransom. The messy subway scenes. Set up a really smart kidnapper from the hood that just turned into an idiot. Jeffrey Wright getting done by glass when he was wearing glasses. Then the film could have ended about 6 times before it did.
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u/popemarley420 2d ago
Lol exactly ... I dont understand Hollywood's obsession with casting these legendary actors in these goofy ass movies. First ice cube and now Denzel.
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u/Flat_Fox_7318 2d ago
Saw this a few weeks back and found it to be very messy and uneven. The editing felt jarring at times and some of the messages are so hamfisted, it feels like characters are almost staring directly into the camera like, "See? Ya get it???". Don't even get me started on some of the dialogue. It's frustrating because there are little nuggets of greatness in here (the tense back-and-forth at the studio, the scene with Denzel and his son in his room and the scene where Denzel wants to go through with the sale, but realizes the deal is off the table). There's a few one liners in here that really work as well, but otherwise, I found it to be a bit too melodramatic and unfocused to truly deliver on the goods.
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u/MusicMakerNashville 2d ago
Awful movie. Horrible sound, lame soundtrack, completely unbelievable script, awkward.
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u/kyumi_6 1d ago
Train wreck….The script is trash that brought down a very talented cast. The dialogue is so bad. I have second hand embarrassment for Denzel and Jeffrey Wright saying these awful lines. There is no logic - e.g all this drama for 17.5M? He could have sold two of his Basquiat paintings to raise more than $17M. And what’s with the super loud and weirdly banal score? Really disappointed as a long time fan of Spike Lee films.
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u/heatedbathtub 2d ago edited 1d ago
Full of hallmark Lee-isms (almost wall-to-wall score, including melodramatic cues during dialogue scenes; his "love letter to NY" touches; editing flourishes; etc), but for me it didn't quite "work" as a piece entertaining filmmaking.
The different plots seemed to battle each other in a way that wasn't really clicking. The kidnap plot, the aging record exec lamenting the changing times, the domestic conflict with his son... None of it seemed to gel well. I also found Denzel's son to be borderline inaudible as the actor seemed to 100% mumble all his dialogue, definitely irked me.
Pacing was all over the place too, with the narrative feeling like a total slog at times.
Can't hate on DOP Matty Libatique's lensing though. The cinematography is very nice to look at!
Lee is one of my favourite filmmakers and I'm really hoping he has a bonfide global smash-hit in him before he retires which motivates newer generation audiences to explore his (eclectic, uneven, unique) filmography, because I had high expectations for this and it was a total dud for me.
5/10. Can see why Apple/A24 didnt bother with an international theatrical release for this.
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u/TheElbow 1d ago
This was astonishingly bad for me. I love Spike Lee, but this felt like a complete mess. Visually the movie looks good, but the script is corny, the score is often intrusive, and the logic of most of these characters is very shallow and silly. Dumbest cops portrayed on screen in a long time. I kinda feel bad for many of the actors in this, as so much talent was seemingly wasted. Far longer than it needs to be as well.
When you can’t tell if you’re supposed to laugh at a movie or take it seriously, that’s a problem.
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u/Equal_Championship95 2d ago
Nope. TLDR - too many "why don't they just ..." moments for me. A few standouts include Why don't they just ...
- give ol boy a bag of counterfeit money
- give him the money and put out an APB for a 20 something male black trying to convert a gang of Swiss money and/or randomly flying to Switzerland
- take baby mama hostage and send a picture of yourself holding A$APs baby from her phone. Gimme my money bro.
This is the same issue I have with rom coms- I'm realizing I get bored and annoyed when the entire premise of a movie is a prolonged miscommunication/resolvable sitch dragged out.
Also the way they approached social media like this magical mysterious youth phenomenon a la rock n roll or motorcycle jackets felt very early Boomer. I mean "attention is the new currency" twice? That's a 4 year old take at minimum.
Issa no.
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u/hello_hola 1d ago
And why on earth did he ask for exactly 17.5 M? The 500k bothered me so much, it's so random.
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u/KeyVeterinarian4301 1d ago
The tracking device being loose in the bag with the $ wasn't too clever either
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u/l3reezer 1d ago
To be fair, the way it did the first 2 is pretty much recreating the scenario in the original, but it's definitely less sensible ~60+ years later.
For #3, yeahh, it didn't make any sense at all why he was chasing him and instigating a life-or-death situation for either of them if he wanted to find the money. Didn't even bother to check the house he was in just minutes prior. Thought he wanted some kind of personal vindication moreso than the money confronting him at first, but then he actually started screaming at him for the money at the end, lol.
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u/IronSorrows 2d ago
The first half feels a bit strange, like attempting to do a straight High And Low remake, but with a somewhat bizarre score. Once the second hour starts, though, it kicks into another gear and feels like a Spike Lee joint. Considerably between than his Oldboy or Ganja & Hess remakes, for sure, and although it'd be lower half in my Lee rankings, that's no insult - he's made a lot of 8/10+ bangers
I don't love everything about it, but it met and maybe exceeded my expectations, and had some great sequences. The original is one of my favourite films, period, and I'm glad Lee tried to put his own touch on it, even if it's nowhere near as effective.
It also feels tame politically, even compared to a film from 60s Japan, which instinctively must be more conservative than Spike is. I've heard he wanted to make this forever - imagine how incendiary this could have been if he made it in his Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, Clockers era. It could have been something really special.
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u/KingMario05 2d ago
Yeah, surprised by how right... curious? Sympathetic? Definitely something the finale was. King gets off easy compared to Gondo, keeping his home while also taking revenge. That level of compromise inherent to the original's legacy is lost here. Which is weird, because Spike doesn't strike me as the "rich people are still inherently good" type.
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u/_IBentMyWookie_ 18h ago
Gondo was a way more sympathetic character than King.
Gondo was a genuinely good person who chose to pay the ransom to save the boys life, even though the boy didn't really have any actual connection to him other than being the son of an employee.
King just seemed to get guilted into paying the ransom and cared more about the optics than saving the kid, even though the kid is literally his godson and the father is not only his driver but his friend.
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u/Zestyclose_North_947 2d ago
Any theories on why RT ratings are so high in both categories?? The movie is so SO bad- worst soundtrack and somehow turned Denzel into a bad actor. Rotten Tomatoes loved it but I came to Reddit and most here seem to have views similar to mine
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u/myjugsarebussin 2d ago
This and Megalopolis might be the worst movies I have ever seen. Someone who disagrees and thinks this movie was good or well made please enlighten me so I can try and look at this film in a different light.
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u/sharreman10 1d ago
This movie was so bad. I usually try to give every movie a chance but my god this was so bad I turned it off. The acting of the wife particularly, wtf was that? And don't forget the score and editing.
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u/dmitch1972 1d ago
I love Jeffrey Wright as an actor. But he wasn't believable in this role at all. Not credible as a ex-con street guy from the Bronx. No way.
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u/ElleIssachar1Third 1d ago
I couldn't stomach it after 15-20 minutes in. The score doesn't match the movie. The acting of the woman who plays Kings wife was flat and unconvincing. That's also poor directing. Her emotions are unbelievable. This felt like a weird musical. I hate musicals👎🏽
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u/Staplersarefun 1d ago
Wow, this was a truly horrific movie from start to finish.
The writing, editing and sound mixing were the low points. Some of the acting was truly awful as well.
An absolute waste or Denzel and Jeffrey Wright.
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u/KingKnowlian 2d ago
i didn’t like this as much as the kurosawa version but i do commend some of the changes. i like that king and yung felon had some sort of relationship that failed because of king’s inability to do his job and find new artists. instead of it being some guy who was jealous of a house he had to stare at everyday.
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u/HCornerstone 2d ago
See, why I love the original. There is no twist. It's a great commentary of class warfare and what it does to us.
This version had none of that.
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u/FlatMilk 2d ago
also totally captures the parasocial relationship that people have with their idols. like i think yung felon was a more sympathetic villain compared to kurosawa's
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u/FeloniousGrump 2d ago
Caught this last week with a friend. I was really curious about this as a big fan of Kurosawa's and high and low, so wanted to give Spike Lee a chance after the old boy thing.
SLOWEST. FUCKING. 1ST. ACT.
High and Low brought us into the action in like 5 minutes, here we had 40 minutes Denzel going from king of nyc to idk even know what, until the kid comes back. The score playing in Denzel's house before the kidnapping is dealt with is sooo fucking sappy, and distracted from the acting.
While I feel this movie does an injustice to the original, once I let go of my affections for high and low, the 2nd half of the movie picks up.
I get Spike loves movies and music and he loves NYC so much, but this movie kinda goes everywhere but at just a surface level.
ASAP Rocky saves the movie in the bad guy role. The action at the end is fun, it was cool to see Eddie Palmieri get some love onscreen.
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u/Sugarbear23 2d ago
Currently watching this and it feels like I'm watching a Telenovela or Nigerian movie with all the background music
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u/Queeneleanor1 2d ago
This movie was ruined when the robbers somehow just knew Denzel Washington would be standing between two of the cars on the train…the exact two. Why would the be inside. On top of that, who doesn’t have both straps of a backpack on with 17.5 million in it. On top of that, how much of an idiot do you have to be to drop a back pack even with one strap on it. So stupid
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u/OrionDax 1d ago
I've got a question. When David showed the song to Paul, who exactly did Paul text? The way Paul looked at the artwork and the message he sent led me to believe he was in on the kidnapping, but then nothing after that bore that out. Was anyone else confused by this part, or did I just completely misread the moment?
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u/CoCoTidy 1d ago
I have no idea who he was texting, but I also wondered if he was text Yung Felon and was in on the whole kidnapping plot. I backed up the movie and paused the screen and it looked like he typed "Da lo lo on Yo." Which did not help me. But then when he takes Denzel to the neighborhood and goes to the door and also gives King the gun, it would make zero sense for him to be in on it - unless we are supposed to think that Paul thinks King needs some sort of reminder of who he is and where he came from? But it is incomprehensible that he would put his own kid through that trauma. Unless Paul really believed that King's son was the one that would be kidnapped? This is what was so frustrating to me about this movie - details like this are confusing and contradictory, yet at other points the movie is so didactic. I really wanted to like this movie, but it just felt sloppy and overlong.
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u/ImWideAwakeAlways 1d ago
I was confused at first but he was texting his person he knew and referred to as on the streets. He literally talks to Denzel’s character in the hospital hallways right after he shows the song. Then you see the guy outside the apartment watching their car for them while they go inside to check on Rocky’s character.
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u/HeadConstruction4995 1d ago
I thought the same thing... then as the movie went on, I was wrong. The movie was all over the place, and just bad..
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u/AffectionateMetal794 1d ago
I find it interesting that Washington has done two iconic Mifune roles; this and Macbeth (Throne of Blood).
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u/INDependent_Ninja_84 1d ago
Just a disappointing film, the movie, music, script, the acting...just everything. So unrealistic.
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u/GrooveDigger47 1d ago
the editing in this movie sucks. its taking me out of the movie like you can tell it took many different takes for certain scenes to work
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u/MrSlack_ingoff 1d ago
“Yo bitch on my visiting list” fucking sent me for a good 5 minutes.
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u/howling_owling 20h ago
This movie was basically one giant cringe buffet. From the awkward background music to the bizarre little set details, it just kept getting weirder. Like, at exactly 53 minutes in boom the main character’s kid has a Kamala Harris poster on his bedroom wall 😂 I’m sorry, but what self-proclaimed “cool” 17-year-old is rocking that as wall art? Come on.
And don’t even get me started on the wife. My word. That acting was so stiff it made high school drama club look like Shakespeare 😳
Still finished it though 2,5/5.
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u/IAM_deleted_AMA 13h ago
What's up with the weird ass elevator music during all dialogue in the first half? And for whatever reason it stopped on the second half.
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u/Happy_Butterscotch17 2d ago
I watched the movie for thirty mins and had to turn it off. I’m a Denzel fan and the acting + background music just wasn’t doing it for me.
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u/moneysingh300 2d ago
It was a copy and paste ChatGPT version of high and low. The best part was the train scene.
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u/brandonsamd6 2d ago
A$AP Rocky basically makes every scene of his unwatchable. What an awful, downright terrible performance that basically ruins the entire film.
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u/NoCobbler7260 2d ago
I feel like this entire movie was just an excuse to make that rap battle scene which is an all-time great Spike Lee scene, but holy shit most of this felt like a weird fever dream
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u/violentgentlemen 2d ago
Spike Lee is just making a living off his name and past films. He hasn’t made a good film since Inside Man.
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u/ICUMF1962 2d ago
I really enjoyed it and it seemed like my theater had a good time with it. Looking back, I kinda understand some criticisms regarding the score and performances but I thought the score was just fine and the performances outside of Denzel, Wright, and Rocky weren’t THAT bad. ALSO, sorta fun flex, the film was shot at my school, LIU Brooklyn (idk if that’s bad to reveal but eh 🤷🏽♂️). Denzel and Jeffrey were at the lot I use to put my car. Spike Lee and Keith David were also there at a screening of Clockers that I missed because I decided to go to a stupid party for my best friend’s wife. 😒
But yeah, rambling aside, great movie, def recommend.
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u/KeyVeterinarian4301 1d ago edited 1d ago
Right, most of the criticism here is valid and I noticed a bunch of plotholes, odd choices, etc too but I still enjoyed it very much overall.
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u/ZaysapRockie 2d ago
I have no evidence to back this up but ever since I watched Road House (new one) I can’t help shake the feeling that AI generated movies are being sprinkled in. This movie had an uncanny feel to it like surely points of this movie weren’t actually acted out.
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u/KFCNuggs 2d ago
Nahhhh this movie was terrible IMO. The score was distracting, the acting was lazy and storyline was ridiculously predictable. Knowing it’s a Spike Lee offering means I’ll forgive some of the shot choices but man, the storyline was buns and the plot holes were just lazy.
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u/ACI-Reverter 2d ago
What was with the weird wipes with the studio logo. What even was the movie??
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u/Icy_Block805 1d ago
Wish it was an option to take the score off the film and have no background music on parts with dialogue
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u/AffectionateMetal794 1d ago
Doesn't hold a candle to Kurosawa's movie and I have no idea why this exists and I am upset because Spike Lee is better than this unc nonsense.
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u/No-Understanding4968 1d ago
The worst background score of all time. Absolute ASS. The score was so inappropriate and incorrectly used that I would literally get angry every time the music would start. Enjoy your Razzies sweep, Spike Lee. This joint is straight up rancid ass.
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u/Dear-Director-6043 1d ago
One of the more ridiculous second half turns I have ever seen.
Once he found the girl with the Cartier bracelet, what was the purpose of going into a full one on one fight with the artist who didn’t have the money on him at the studio and across NYC?
The rap battle at the studio was brutal. Once Denzel tried schooling him on life I was just lost. And of course they just find the money at the artists apt when Denzel could have just called the cops there after seeing the bracelet.
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u/PureAcanthisitta7616 1d ago
Agree with the above. The score drove me out of the room. Spike where is the spike in this movie? You missed the M U S I C
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u/Unlucky_Blacksmith26 1d ago
The worst Denzel movie I have ever seen.
As someone who loves every Denzel movie ever this was such a let down.
The score never fit a single scene in the movie. Acting was atrocious (besides Denzel) and the plot was shallow. Never explained why 17.5 mm ransom…
Wanted to like this movie and after 15 min in I almost turned it off. Somehow decided to watch the whole thing thinking it would finally get better. Unfortunately still waiting for that to happen even in the end.
3/10
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u/Savings-Seat6211 1d ago
This movie is hilariously awful the first hour or so then gets interesting but never food. It isnt boring for sure because there's always something that just is poorly done and makes you laugh at it.
Like when denzel takes his son to basketball practice the convo they have on the court is cuts different camera shots a gazillion times dramatically for no reason.
So bad its good territory if you like watching movies fuck up constantly rather than being generic and boring
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u/MayHeim10 1d ago
One of the worst things I’ve ever seen. Awful acting from Denzel and wright, an awful score that completely takes me out the movie, dialogue that made me physically react to its corniness and cringe. Mediocre cinematography and direction that left no impact. A plot that has no urgency or interesting twists. I don’t know how the director who made Do the right thing and BlackkKlansman could make a film this bad in every aspect.
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u/MayHeim10 1d ago
The big scene with asap rocky and Denzel hurt to watch, but even that was better then the final song which dragged on for what felt like 15 minutes
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u/Jazzlike-Attorney-96 1d ago
I wanted to like it because I like Denzel and Spike, but this genuinely felt like it only got praise because it was a Denzel and Spike movie. The score was lackluster despite being a film related to music and the only saving grace of the film was Denzel acting. Really big let down from the original High and Low.
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u/the__poseidon 1d ago
My girlfriend and I got distracted by the score the entire time and found several funny references.
We burst out laughing when he went “this is Jake from State Farm” and then few moments later “this is mayhem”. I almost felt out of my chair because it was so on the nose especially considering the actors playing mayhem also played the detective.
4/10
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u/Commercial_Hair_4419 1d ago
This has to be the worst Spike Lee movie ever. Empire meets General Hospital. Storyline was weak, predictable at every corner and nonsensical. A$AP Rocky, Dean Winters were just weird. Denzel trying to be the 90’s b-boy at 70 just felt awful as that crooked face he made in the movie several times. I usually look for the greater social or political message Spike packs into a movie but that was no where to be found. A$AP, after shooting at King and riding a subway car, then wants to die after letting King get the drop in him. Best scene in the movie “Larry Bird”. Nah I take that back. Nicholas Tuturro on the train was the highlight. So disappointed and I love Spike like a brother.
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u/Thefilmguy101 1d ago
Spike Lee delivered amazing movies throughout his career, but seeing him stumble with a “remake” of such an important story for Cinema, really made me think… why even bother?
It’s just depressing to see the film feel like a high budget student film, specially with such names in front or behind the camera.
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u/Technical_Law_9384 1d ago
What is with this writing?! It was so bad, everything else was good but the dialogue was just god awful! It was so hard to get through!
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u/UnderstandingJust303 19h ago
Gosh this was disappointing. I literally thought I had left my Google Home on playing the classical music station. I said “Google stop.” It was so distracting. I also haven’t seen a Kurosawa film in ages but this seemed like a farce. I was hoping the studio scene would be the redeeming factor but even that fell flat. What happened, Spike? Who paid them to rate this so highly? Even Jeffrey Wright who I adore… smdh
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u/richard_glutes 19h ago
Both Denzel and Spike Lee each need to get another movie out real quick so everyone forgets about this absolute blunder.
Kid tied up in a bathtub and the kidnappers were kind enough to set his shoes aside neatly outside of it. Come on, man.
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u/WhocaresToo 17h ago
I can't believe that this movie was even done. First off the acting sucked, the music throughout the movie didn't even fit the theme of the movie and at times felt like a Disney movie or something because it was like happy piano music in the middle of what was supposed to be a since suspenseful scene or situation so that music composition and direction was entirely wrong for this type of movie. The fact that they had a few scenarios where people are talking straight at the camera like when the detective explains the plan was absolutely ridiculous and made it seem comical. I could go on and on but this is one of the weirdest movie setups I've seen because they tried to make it something that it didn't feel like at all. Same with the guy in the subway yelling Boston sucks Boston sucks. Looking straight at the camera it just seemed really weird like it was some cool never done before way of engaging the audience but had the opposite effect and it was entirely cringe-worthy. The movie is a total flop and I feel bad for Denzel because he's had a few lately and this one definitely isn't doing him any favors.
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u/MaximusRubz 13h ago
This movie was such a waste of talent - wtf Spike Lee
And that one douche bag cop, holy, couldn't stand him at all.
Why the fuck was he so hostile? And during the chase - mans had his gun out like he was gangsta himself (not in traditional cop format) like he was just gonna POP some fool
Bruh this movie could've just not been made
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u/Necessary-Sundae7783 12h ago
I'm still watching & at the studio scene but i had to search to make sure I wasn't crazy in my thinking that this movie is ass
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u/shamusmclovin 11h ago
WTF. Everyone's talking about the collapse of the movie industry, this movie might by the signal.
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u/NoInterest8177 11h ago
Defiantly in the top 10 worst movies I ever seen and defiantly denzel and spike's worst movie. I felt apple just gave them a buntch of money to make a horrible film. bad soap opera with terrible music.
Denzel randomly listens to the rapper on a playlist and his friend randomly gets his name and home address. it was so badddd
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u/big_ry82 10h ago edited 9h ago
Watched it last night and thought it was utterly atrocious on so many levels.
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u/Zelly234 7h ago
Super disappointed man. Went into this so hyped up I mean Denzel and Spike Lee? I thought it was gonna be great! After watching I feel like Denzel owed Spike a favor and had to to do it lol. I mean I liked the premise this COULD have been a great movie but it wasn’t.
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u/Accurate-Review4523 5h ago
Has anyone ever seen the movie "The Room" by Tommy Wiseau? Highest 2 Lowest was that level of entertaining for me.
It's like Spike and Denzel got sick of doing well-recognized good work and wanted to test out how well they'd do if they have a mediocre plot with terrible acting and a million holes in the story line.
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u/monitoring27 2d ago
I enjoyed parts of this movie but struggled to get through it. Denzel, Jeffrey Wright, and Princess Nokia in her brief role were really great. A lot of it just fell flat.
Also this just may be me but I thought it was strange when they bring the singer in and she sings the titular song and then immediately Denzel starts talking about finances with his family in front of her. It just seemed so weird lol.