Highest 2 Lowest (2025)

For the first time in nineteen years, Oscar-winning director Spike Lee and Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington have re-united for their fifth collaboration after Mo Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, and Inside Man.  Washington stars as David, a New York City music mogul with ONE goal at the outset of this story: to retain full control of the record label he had built over the past several decades to reconnect with the music.  However some other mysterious figure has other ideas as he calls David out of the blue claiming to suddently have kidnapped the mogul's son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) and he is demanding a LOT of money in return. :o In his corner is personal driver/bodyguard Paul played by Oscar-nominee Jeffrey Wright.  And what results is a high-energy thriller/musical/New York movie which also happens to be a loose remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 classic High and Low.    

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Transcript

HIGHEST TO LOWEST – 2025

Directed by Spike Lee

Starring Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ifenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, Ice Spice, Dean Winters, John Douglas Thompson, LaChanze, Aubrey Joseph, Michael Potts, and Wendell Pierce

Genre:  Mystery Thriller (Audio clip)

Considering that I adored three of their previous collaborations (Malcolm X, Mo Better Blues) and it had been 19 years since Spike and Denzel last did a film together, this has easily been my most anticipated movie of the year. I'm truly confounded as to why Apple couldn't give it the proper wide theatrical release which it so clearly deserved but at the very least, it was playing at a few select theaters near me. Given the very quiet release, I honestly didn’t know what to expect…was this film being “dumped” for a reason? 

Well gratefully, this lived up to my expectations as this is likely the most purely entertaining film either Spike OR Denzel has done since Inside Man.  Denzel goes pretty broad here as David King, also known as "King David" who is a charismatic music mogul living atop a spectacular penthouse high rise apartment across the river from lower Manhattan. With great camera work from master DP and frequent Spike collaborator Matthew Libatique (Inside Man, A Star Is Born, Requiem For A Dream), we are treated to SEVERAL gorgeous, swooping shots of the Manhattan skyline, early and often. I honestly can't recall a film fetishizing NYC skyscrapers this well since the late '80's heyday of Wall Street, Moonstruck, and Working Girl. 😉

Speaking of Wall Street....Denzel's David comes off as a glad-handing, high energy hip-hop Gordon Gekko who kicks off the film living the good life with his wife Pam (Ifenesh Hadera), teenage son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) and personal driver/bodyguard Paul played wittily by recent Oscar-nominee Jeffrey Wright in yet another scene-stealing turn. :) David has but ONE goal at the outset of this story: to retain full control of the record label he had built over the past several decades to reconnect with the music. However amidst these tall buildings and within a few select patios and/or corner offices, some other mysterious figure has other ideas as he calls David out of the blue claiming to suddenly have kidnapped the mogul's son and he is demanding a LOT of money in return!

And the plot just further thickens from there, often going in some unexpected directions - I won't dare to spoil it much further except to say what follows includes some tense setpieces, witty back-and-forth dialogue, loads of good music (much of it performed diegetically by characters on-screen though this is never an actual MUSICAL), AND - this is one aspect of the film which MIGHT urk some folks - several wink-wink beats referring to New York or just Spike's own filmography. Not sure they were all necessary...the camera lingers on an apartment number which recalls a certain film studio, we have a prominent fourth wall-breaking cameo from a co-star of one Spike's earliest films, and we are even treated to another returning Spike cast member LITERALLY screaming directly at the camera one point, "Let's Go YANKEES!!!!" clap-clap, clap -clap-clap. 🫣 (And I personally have always hated the Yankess) 

Do each of these mini-tangents completely serve the story? Not particularly but I generally enjoyed them and as a filmmaker, Spike has always been prone to his flourishes - it gets a bit slow and talky in the middle and like most Spike Lee joints (with the exception of DTRT and Malcolm X), this leads to the movie probably going at least ten minutes too long. But also like the BEST of his movies also thanks to a smart screenplay he co-wrote with Alan Fox, the characters and the setting just feel SO alive that it's easy to get sucked in...

Finally as the movie often feels as it's in conversation with previous Lee films, Denzel's performance here feels as if it's in conversation with his previous work. He's trotting out ALL of the hits: the thousand yard stare, the John Wayne shuffle, the intimidating laugh, and of course those randomly clapping hands. 😃 He may or may not be riffing on previous performances but it still makes for a compelling protagonist who we THINK we're rooting for most of the time....I mean in the exhaustive history of music star biopics, just HOW often do we find ourselves rooting for the flamboyant record exec? 🤔 Well his David goes through a compelling journey at the very least leading to a surprisingly touching ending no less....and I was just grateful to be along for the ride!

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

As has been the case with many a Spike Lee joint, this film has a pretty eclectic soundtrack touching several different genres from hip-hop to salsa to showtunes to jazz…but for me, the musical highlight comes from a pair of classic songs played pretty much in succession late in the movie from the man, the myth, the LEGEND…..James Joseph Brown born in Barnwell, South Carolina…..yes The Godfather of Soul himself, JAMES BROWN!  Always a fan and as David is being driven by Paul to a VERY TENSE unplanned meeting….well calling a meeting is pushing it but needless to say for his character, it is LITERALLY payback time and the song we hear is none other than Brown’s 1973 funk classic from the album of the same name…..the frequently sampled though never quite equaled….”The Payback.” (Audio clip) 

Well then cut to a couple of scenes later and our pair are now headed to a nearby destination – a recording studio – in the vicinity for what promises to be an even TENSER meeting.  Tension’s ramping up and Denzel’s David is CLEARLY trying to psych himself up for it as we see him shadow-boxing in the passenger seat.  And playing over this is another one of my JB favorites, a true BANGER also from ’73 though this was featured on his soundtrack for Black Caesar – wow was Brown PROLIFIC or what?  THIS song is the mid-tempo groove, “The Boss.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film): 

I don’t want to belabor this too much but it just does NOT make sense as to why Apple/A24 couldn’t give this film a proper wide theatrical release.  It’s a commercial movie and Spike’s LAST film released to theaters seven years ago – BlackkKlansman – was a solid box office hit.  And Denzel is still a proven draw as his last two movies – yes both were sequels but STILL THAT’S not always a guarantee these days, I’m referring to previous episodes Gladiator II and The Equalizer 3 – they both made bank.  I just don’t get it….and it’s not the FIRST time Apple has pulled something like this….a year ago, they dumped Wolfs – a fun-looking heist comedy starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney no less – directly to streaming too.  Sorry it just pisses me off – MOVIES featuring MOVIE STARS….should be seen on MOVIE SCREENS bottom line!   It’s a WASTE in the purest sense…..ok rant over.

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Definitely the most exciting sequence in the film occurs about an hour in….the money drop.  This tense setpiece has us cutting between three different people, most notably Denzel’s David nervously carrying the bag along a VERY crowded subway train filled with loud Yankee fans AND when his train arrives at the designated drop point?  There’s a Puerto Rican Day parade going on featuring some very lively music…..and once the money has been dropped….well sort of??  Wouldn’t you know, it gets passed from one darkly dressed, masked-wearing survival on a motorcycle to another….and amidst ALL of this crazy Bronx traffic no less.  Driving the car to chase the actual money dropped is Dean Winters as Detective Higgins….it’s fun to watch him drive furiously and to witness just how increasingly ramped up he becomes.  Just a fun, bravura sequence and maybe even Spike’s best overall action sequence….if we’re counting it as such. (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

Can I just say that it is SUCH a relief to finally really enjoy a new Denzel movie?  I have been lukewarm, mid at BEST for pretty much everything he has done over the past DECADE now from the last two Equalizers to Gladiator 2 last year to Roman J. Israel to….the OK adaptation of The Tragedy of MacBeth which he did a few years back with Joel Coen.   Regardless, he’s just having a blast here – there’s a sequence where he pretty much, kinda, SORTA has a rap battle late in the movie with ASAP Rocky…..and I have to say that he holds his own.  It’s a full-on movie star performance and for delivering his most purely enjoyable one in years, Denzel Washington is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 4.2 stars out of 5 

It's just a bizarrely entertaining kidnapping thriller/pseudo-musical/New York movie....the comparison isn't 100% in line but on paper, this sorta feels like the type of balls-out genre-blend which Amelia Perez was TRYING to be. Because on paper, it doesn't feel like it should work and at times, it even feels like a victory lap for Denzel and Spike! Gratefully I was still having a good time right alongside them....here’s hoping that this isn’t their LAST collaboration!

Streaming on Apple TV+

And that ends another HIGH AND LOW review!  Yeah Kurosawa, look it up…