Lee, Washington tackle the great divide in Highest
Using the Akira Kurosawa classic High and Low as a starting point, Spike Lee delivers a searing examination of the ever-expanding class divide in Highest 2 Lowest, his fifth collaboration with Denzel Washington. Like so many of the director’s films, he casts a wide net regarding the issues he tackles, both societal and moral, all the while resisting the temptation to rein in the story and its many tangents. Still, the way in which he looks at the corrupting influence of wealth and our desire to obtain it, remains riveting throughout. The drama that ensues regarding a prickly ethical conundrum is one that yields a rich narrative meal the cast and filmmaker eagerly tear into.
Washington is David King, a music mogul whose heyday may have passed, yet he still wields considerable power within the industry. Living in a posh Manhattan high-rise, he’s become isolated from his colleagues, family and real-world concerns. The wake-up call that snaps him out of his stupor is a dire one. After coming out of his high school basketball practice, King’s son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) is kidnapped. Frantic, he and his wife Pam (Ilfenesh Hadera) alert the authorities, who set out to find the young man.
Fortunately, 24 hours later Trey is found unharmed. Unfortunately, all concerned realize his best friend Kyle (Elijah Wright), who has also gone missing but whose absence has been overshadowed because he is the son of King’s chauffeur, Paul (Jeffrey Wright) is the one who’s been abducted. The perpetrator of the crime (A$AP Rocky), once he contacts them with his demands, doesn’t believe he has the wrong boy, still insisting that a multi-million-dollar ransom be paid for his release.
Whether King will make this payment or not is the crux of the film’s second act, one in which his moral character is put to the test. How he approaches this situation proves revelatory to his wife and son as well as his good friend Paul who’s stood by him for years. From his point of view, this isn’t simply a financial concern – though he is cash poor due to complex business dealings – but also one of perception. Will he be seen as easy prey if he pays? Can his company’s image weather the storm if he refuses to do so? And just how will this affect his relationship with his family, friends, and business associates?
This is rich material and when Lee devotes his focus to it, the movie has us riveted. Other twists occur before the credits role that raise the stakes, the tension in these moments, arresting. It’s when the director drifts away from this narrative throughline that the film suffers. Far too many scenes run too long, an extended, improbable sequence involving a subway train, a chase, and a Puerto Rican music festival proves laborious, while the director’s tendency to allow the soundtrack music to overwhelm the action proves distracting.
As you would expect, Washington excels with such a rich character, his intensity, whether it be smoldering or overt, present throughout. The rest of the cast rise to his level, while the moments between him and Wright are a delight, the two master thespians going toe-to-toe, each conveying as much through what they don’t say as what they do. However, the major surprise is A$AP Rocky, the rapper bringing a fire to the third act that’s impressive. A confrontation between him and King is one of the best movie moments of the year, the young man defiantly demanding recognition and money due, not so much for the songs he’s written but because of the circumstances he was born into. King’s refusal to do so, insisting these things must be earned and not given, creates an electric moment, a clash of generational philosophies that powerfully speaks to the various aspects of the current social divide.
Without question, the film overstays its welcome, the production in need of an objective editor to trim the narrative fat. Still, the strength of the story and its message weather this storm, Lee, Washington and the rest giving us plenty to chew on. Highest is the sort of filmmaking we’ve come to expect from the director and his peers, the irony being that it is in such short supply when we need it the most. Streaming on Apple TV+.
Timely Lurker a bracing cautionary tale
Living with his grandmother, Matthew (Theodore Pellerin) is a young man with no direction and even less ambition. Working at an urban clothing store, he one day crosses paths with the up-and-coming musician, Oliver (Archie Madekwe, channeling The Weeknd). Improbably, after a bit of small talk, they hit it off and Matthew finds himself hanging with the would-be superstar and his posse the next day. Slyly ingratiating himself further into the inner circle, he soon finds himself acting as his new friend’s documentarian, assigned to record his everyday activities and personal musings.
Basking in the glow of this new source of attention, Matthew begins to display a newfound confidence that rubs Oliver’s other associates (Zack Fox, Daniel Zolghadri) the wrong way. They feel threatened by the attention this newcomer is receiving, something Matthew experiences when his co-worker Jamie (Sunny Suljic) is suddenly let into the group. Insecurity runs amok among them, each of these young men going out of their way to curry favor from Oliver. Yet, Matthew takes things to a higher level when he goes out of his way to sabotage the efforts of the others, acts that result in his banishment.
At this point, Russell’s script takes a clever U-turn that upends the power dynamic. To reveal more would do the filmmaker a disservice but the way the movie shifts narrative gears is impressive and welcome. However, the focus of the film is the way these young men fail to communicate with one another. Insincere compliments are at the core of the awkward interactions that repeatedly take place. Nary a genuine sentiment is expressed between them, each of them afraid to express any of their real thoughts or feelings for fear of being ridiculed. The false friendships that result put all concerned on shaky emotional ground, supposed loyalties a mirage that are revealed at the most inopportune times.
The fact that Oliver is revealed to be as insecure as his followers is one of Russell’s wisest choices. The sycophants he surrounds himself with feed his ego, their adulation and neediness a balm for his fragile sense of self-esteem. It’s only when this is threatened to be taken away that his mask comes off and he’s revealed to be as fragile as the rest.
Kudos to Pellerin and Madekwe for the dynamic they create. What begins as a lopsided relationship unexpectedly develops, through a set of odd circumstances, into one of mutual need. It’s obvious each of these actors plumbed the depths of their own fragility to convey that in their characters, the result being a tragic relationship formed and sustained by lies and insincerity.
Russell’s raw, unflinching approach results in a powerful work that focuses on the inability of today’s young men to form genuine relationships, as well as look at themselves in a positive light. The director’s approach is wonderfully ironic as throughout, he employs a handheld camera, relying on shaky medium shots and close-ups. The intimacy this method creates is as much a lie as the camaraderie Oliver and his crew share. In the end, Lurker is a cautionary tale regarding the dangers wrought in a society in which people can no longer trust in what’s said or determine what’s real. In Theaters.
Star power makes for fun Murder Club
A pleasant enough diversion, Chris Columbus’ The Thursday Murder Club features a cast of veteran British actors giving their all to a script that’s clearly beneath them. Still and all, this adaptation of the first novel in the series by Richard Osman is an entertaining lark that gets by on the charm of its performers. While the mystery at its center is far too complicated for its own good, at the very least Columbus keeps things moving, alternating between scenes of the amateur sleuths trying to crack the case and those in which they deal with personal issues.
Coopers Chase is a grand old estate that’s been turned into a posh home for pensioners. Its occupants are numerous, and the community is tightknit. Among them are Elizabeth (Helen Mirren), a former MI-6 operative, Ron (Pierce Brosnan) an ex-trade unionist, and Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley), who once practiced psychology. These three have taken to gathering every Thursday to analyze and attempt to solve cold cases. They’ve recently taken Joyce (Celia Imrie) into their group as they believe the medical experience she obtained from once being a nurse will prove valuable.
Wouldn’t you know it, they no longer have to look to the past to practice their detective skills as a murder occurs in which they have a personal connection. One of the owners of Coopers Chase, Tony Curran (Geoff Bell) is brutally beaten to death in his home. The prime suspect is Ian Ventham (David Tennant), co-owner of the establishment, who is eager to sell the place. The two were seen arguing over this matter, so the natural conclusion is …
But if it were that cut-and-dried it would make for a very short movie. Par for the course, nothing and no one is as they seem, and many deep dark secrets are revealed before all the answers come to light. However, before that can happen, another murder occurs, and we’re introduced to a myriad of supporting characters who each have their reasons for engaging in homicide.
Ron’s son Jason (Tom Ellis), an ex-MMA champion, Bogdan (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), who works for Ventham, and Tanner (Richard E. Grant), the silent partner in the Coopers Chase venture, all emerge as primes suspects for one reason or another. Of course, the detective assigned to the case, Hudson (Daniel Mays) can’t make heads nor tails of what’s going on. The fact that his colleague, Donna (Naomi Ackie) is helping Elizabeth and her cohorts on the sly isn’t helping his efforts.
The investigation into the two primary murders proceeds logically but then Osman feels compelled to muddy the waters with the discovery of a 50-year-old corpse, that winds up being improbably connected to a supporting character and the cold case the quartet was initially working on. This attempt to deepen the mystery reeks of desperation and proves to be an unnecessary distraction, sapping energy from the main storyline.
Still and all, the characters and performances are what keeps us engaged, though the movie overstays its welcome. The four leads are having a grand time, the interaction between this quartet of disparate characters producing mild fun along the way. I would be remiss if I did not mention Jonathan Pryce, who shines as Elizabeth’s husband Stephen, a kind gentleman struggling with the onset of dementia.
What with four more novels in Osman’s series, it seems like a no-brainer for Netflix to expand on this franchise. Afterall, it’s been some time since Murder, She Wrote went off the air and as such, the void for a fictional senior sleuth exists. The Thursday Murder Club contains four, which should be more than enough to meet that need. Streaming on Netflix.
This article appears in September 4-10, 2025.
