Highest 2 Lowest

Watching Denzel Washington & Spike Lee's 5th film together unfold is a moviegoing thrill. HIGHEST 2 LOWEST is a challenging, twisting film that pulls you in unexpected directions. The language that these two talented men collaboratively create absolutely SINGS here, quietly at first and then soaring to a perfect finale.

Lee has been exceeding expectations for nearly a decade. His last two films have both been jaw dropping for me. 2017's "BlacKkKlansman" and 2020's "Da 5 Bloods" revealed a re-energized Lee, using his talents to paint in very different genres including crime thrillers and a multi generational look at the Vietnam War and its five decade impact, in the form of an action flick.

He's pushing new boundaries here, while deftly examining his own relevance in today's influencer/TikTok driven world of fame (infamy?).

Washington stars as Music Industry mogul David King, living a life that most could only dream of.

Director of Photography Matthew Libatique (Black Swan, A Star is Born) swoops drone cameras around King's penthouse as the film opens, capturing a view of the Manhattan skyline that stuns as "Oh What A Beautiful Morning!" soars in your ears.

It's a loving visual and aural introduction to King's world that drips success, beauty and luxury at the highest level.

Washington portrays David as a man still thrilled by a business deal, the excitement palpable as he works on a life-changing new buyout. He connects briefly with his stunning wife, Pam (Ilfenesh Hadera from "Blue Bloods") asking her to pause the check she's about to write to a non-profit artist group. The deal he's working on will wrap up all their finances short term.

We watch as King takes his son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) to a basketball camp at the university, where Trey meets up with best friend Kyle (Elijah Wright). Kyle is the son of longtime David confidant and driver Paul Christopher. Jeffrey Wright is fantastic as Paul, a former convict who shares a past with David that has somehow inspired deep, unquestioned loyalty.

Paul seems to be one of the few people outside of David's marriage that can tell him their unvarnished opinion without fear.

The first half hour of the film glides by at a leisurely pace, gently slipping us into KIng's everyday life at home and at work. I began to wonder if Lee was creating a family drama. Just when I started getting comfortable in that groove, Lee drops a blistering crime thriller onto the screen.

Trey is kidnapped and the bag guys want $17 million dollars in Swiss Francs, which thanks to this film, I now know weigh a hell of a lot less than greenbacks.

The New York City police department and detectives descend on King's penthouse.

Broadway veteran LaChanze is excellent as Detective Bell as is John Douglas Thompson (21 Bridges) as her counterpart, Detective Bridges. Rounding out the squad is Dean Winters (Rescue Me and "Mayhem" in those insurance commercials) as Detective Higgins, who has the most interesting story arc of the three. (Insurance commercial references provide some big laughs!)

When another twist turns the kidnapping on its head, Lee ratchets up the pace, turning Denzel into a reluctant action hero delivering the ransom money.

The entire sequence is a Lee classic, stealing the multiple phone calls and directions that the Zodiac Killer sent Dirty Harry on in the original Eastwood film, into a celebration of the vastly different boroughs and cultures across Manhattan.

Like Ryan Coogler's brilliant sequence in "Sinners" in which music from across centuries all meld together in a seductive saloon siren song to the vampires, Lee weaves the long foot, car and motorcycle chase through the subway and neighborhoods of New York City that he has, for so long, celebrated.

But the true tension in Lee's crime thriller isn't from the well shot and exciting chases.

It's in watching Washington as King, wrestling with his legacy at work and at home. With finances suddenly pulled in multiple directions, what is the right choice?

What will people think?

It's fascinating watching KIng struggle with the immediacy of social media. His empire was built in an older, slower world. He appreciated loyalty, but it's tested.

King realizes that empire was built in a very different time.

Is he still relevant? Does anything he's done in the past really matter to the latest generation?

You can feel Spike Lee asking many of those same questions in the film, about his own work.

From my viewpoint, this film completes three films that serve as some of the strongest work of Lee's career. Watching Denzel and Spike play and riff in their 5th Joint is perfection.

A$AP Rocky is excellent as young rapper Yung Felon. He exists in a world a few miles from King's penthouse but so far away it could be on another planet.

Watching those worlds collide is unpredictable, suspenseful and as thrilling as any film Lee's ever created.

Pairing up Washington and Wright (American Fiction, The Batman) creates fireworks of relentless dialogue, real, passionate and life changing for both of them. Watching two of our best American actors under Lee's direction is a masterclass. Just nominate them both for this film and get it over with. Superb.

The last thirty minutes is a tension filled character study with explosive violence and quiet, one-on-one scenes with Washington delivering many words at once as only he can, serving up an explosive statement on life and the choices we all make.

David King learns a lot about himself in these 24 hours.

It's a cinematic thrill to be along for the ride.

HIGHEST 2 LOWEST ends with a pitch perfect final scene that could fit just as easily in a musical as it does here. Since David King's world is the music business, it's an easy fit. Lee hits every note on the way to an A+, creating an operatic thriller/character study that Washington throws on his Armani suited back and carries off into a stunning NYC skyline.