movie review: highest 2 lowest

Highest 2 Lowest
Review by Jeff DeRouen

Like 2006’s Inside Man, Spike Lee’s new joint, Highest 2 Lowest, starts out as an action movie but ends its story as a fully formed allegory about morality and what we owe to each other on this planet.

Lee is an expert in taking a high-concept thriller (which he executes brilliantly) and then, at the end of the movie, he drops us into his own moral universe where the auteur is not afraid to tell us, in no uncertain terms, what he believes and where he thinks the world should go.

Lee’s frequent collaborator, Denzel Washington (who was robbed of an Oscar for Malcolm X), plays music mogul David King, a fading talent trying to get back on top, even though it may be time to pass the baton, sit back, and enjoy his money.

David wants to interrupt the pending sale of his label, so he makes a risky move to get his company back, forcing him to leverage all his family’s finances. We see David slowly building the stakes of the movie (the deals, the promises, the risks) and Washington plays him cool like cucumber and mayonnaise noodle salad despite the enormous weight on his shoulders. David’s best laid plans are shot to hell, of course, when a loved one is kidnapped and held for ransom, putting his family and everything he's worked for in jeopardy.

I don’t want to spoil any of the plot details except to say that the movie moves at a clip and shows off some of Spike Lee’s best work. There is a “money drop” sequence set to the music of Eddie Palmieri that is absolutely thrilling and worth the price of admission alone.

There is also no question at this point: Spike Lee is THE New York City filmmaker. He adores the place and shoots the hell out of it; the Big Apple hasn’t looked this gorgeous on screen in a very long time. The cinematography alone is a VERY good reason (here we go) to get up, put on PANTS, and go OUT to the movies to see this limited run in the biggest way you can before the movie moves to AppleTV.

The Prytania Uptown is, for my money, the best screen in New Orleans (beautiful 4K laser projection and Dolby Atmos sound) and starting this weekend, they’ll be playing Highest 2 Lowest alongside the film it’s based on, Akira Kurosawa’s classic High and Low. It’s an amazing opportunity to see two masters of cinema at the top of their game working with their muses, Denzel Washington and Toshiro Mifune.

Is Highest 2 Lowest one of Spike’s masterpieces like Malcolm X or Do the Right Thing? Well, that’s for you to decide. In the end, the movie’s message may be a little too on the nose and perhaps heavy-handed to be held alongside those sophisticated works, but it’s authentic, very entertaining, and full of terrific performances (Geoffrey Wright has that supporting Oscar in his crosshairs, friends). I like that Spike still has something to say and knows how to say it loudly and with pride and, you know what? He ain’t wrong.

For showtimes at the Prytania Theatre, click here