150 Word Review: 'Highest 2 Lowest' (2025)
Get on the train
Something's off about Spike Lee's stylish thriller Highest 2 Lowest. Almost every creative choice he makes, along with his star and longtime collaborator, Denzel Washington, is… eccentric? There are awkward edits and overwrought dialogue. The movie is polished. It’s also sloppy.
A remake of a 1964 Kurosawa classic, Highest 2 Lowest is about a powerful man forced to make a moral choice. Washington stars as David King, a music mogul struggling with whether or not to sell his record company. But as deals are made, kidnappers confuse his son for the son of his faithful driver, Paul, a subdued Jeffrey Wright. Should King pay the random? Washington is never boring. He rants, he raps, he morphs from flamboyant executive to action star. The soundtrack is a lush, head-scratching orchestral score. There's a Rosie Perez cameo! And a tense chase on the NYC subway. Lee is enjoying himself; good for him.