Happy Friday, readers. We’re back after a little summer break to bring you our usual recommendations heading into the weekend. Edward Norton has been receiving plaudits for his role in Olivia Wilde’s The Invite, so we are dedicating this newsletter to the hugely talented actor. Norton isn’t always the lead, yet every few years he reminds us how good he is with undeniable quality. His occasionally prickly demeanor and reputation as a demanding artist have threatened to overshadow his career at times, however the work speaks for itself. Let’s dive into a couple of Norton’s best performances.
Billy recommends…
The year was 2009 and I am in my junior year of high school English class. For Black History Month our teacher gave us a list of media that touches the subject of race. Our job was to watch, listen, and study it. Then give a presentation about the themes, straightforward and the first time I had a teacher not attach rules to the content inside the movie or music she had on her list. It felt like I was really growing up as a student.
My group and I picked American History X. Reminder, we are in the DVD era. Our teachers one direction for the groups that picked a movie… practice navigating and write down the DVD chapters you need to get to for your presentation. My hand to God, we practiced a lot. Every aspect was covered. The scenes we wanted to bring up, what we wanted to say, and our final thesis of the movie. Then the day of the presentation came and I panicked. It was a different remote than at home! Whatever button I hit perfectly landed on the scene… the curb stomp scene. The scene started as the foot was coming down… so I had no time to pause or fast-forward again.
Apologies to Edward Norton for my transgressions because he is really great in this movie. At least 20 kids from 2009 won’t give you a chance now. This is one of those movies that has the white savior problem a tiny bit. A bigoted character at the beginning is allowed to have a redemption arc. What makes me more okay with this arc in American History X is how brutal director Tony Kaye allows the movie to be. And Norton is one of the few actors that can play the full arc masterfully. Use this story as a warning for the content of the movie if you have a weak stomach, but I think it is worth the watch.
Available to rent on digital platforms
Drew recommends…
After a phenomenally hot start to his film career (Primal Fear, Rounders, Fight Club), Edward Norton got the chance to be the lead in a Spike Lee movie. Norton has said his reverence for Spike classics like Do the Right Thing and He Got Game made it a dream come true to play Monty Brogan in 25th Hour. Monty is a complex central character in the style of hard-hitting 1970s and 80s cinematic antihero studies. Norton was inspired to get into movies by watching Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman in those roles, and his committed performance in 25th Hour deserves to be mentioned alongside them.
25th Hour is about many things, but on paper it’s a story of one man’s last day before going to prison for drug-dealing. Monty traverses New York City meeting with his father (Brian Cox) at the bar he owns, partying at the club with his friends (Philips Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper) for one last hurrah, and trying to find out if it was his girlfriend (Rosario Dawson) that sold him out to the authorities.
25th Hour is also about the aftermath of 9/11. That tragedy happened when Spike Lee was in pre-production on the film, so he folded it into the narrative as only a native New Yorker could. Spike blends dramatic character arcs with powerful social commentary to become a moving portrait of New York (and America). While Monty is contemplating loss, regret, and his uncertain future, the film is doing the same with a city that just experienced immeasurable grief and faces a difficult recovery ahead.
Norton is an ideal actor to play a protagonist stricken by these emotions. Monty’s own choices have put him where he is, and yet you are still riding with him – not because he’s a good guy, but because he’s so painfully human. Norton has such an assured handle on Monty’s psychology that both the loud and quiet moments resonate. The most famous scene in this movie is Monty’s rant in the mirror, Spike’s own callback to an iconic sequence from Do the Right Thing. Norton delivers the show-stopping monologue with an abundance of force, rage, and self-laceration. However, the actor is also adept at the little moments between Monty and each of his friends, his father, and his girlfriend.
There’s a case to be made that 25th Hour is not just Spike Lee’s most underrated movie, but one of the most underrated of the 21st century, especially when you consider how passionately it is taking on the anxieties of the last 25 years. Tobey Maguire was initially attached to play Monty but had to drop out due to Spider-Man responsibilities. Thank goodness. I’m confident that very few actors in 2002 could’ve matched what Norton accomplished in 25th Hour, making it a must-see film and performance for our modern times.
Available to rent on digital platforms
The Venice Film Festival announced its lineup and there are some very exciting premieres coming this fall: Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine, Danny Boyle’s Ink, and Robert Pattinson playing To Catch a Predator host Chris Hanson in Primetime.
Chris Rock has a new film coming out from A24 in October called Misty Green. Starring Rosalind Eleazar, Rock has also cast Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick, and Topher Grace for this drama about an actress making a comeback.
Two of our favorites are working together again. Glen Powell and director Richard Linklater are reuniting for a movie about Lou Gehrig. This calls for another Everybody Wants Some! rewatch!
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