Highest 2 Lowest - Review 

Rating: 4 out of 5

SPIKE Lee reunites with Denzel Washington for a fifth time for Highest 2 Lowest, a thrilling, often perceptive and sometimes provocative kidnap drama that isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers.

At its core level, the film is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s classic downbeat noir High and Low from 1963, which in itself was an adaptation of Ed McBain’s novel, King’s Ransom, which was set in a fictional city based on the Big Apple.

Here, then action takes place firmly in New York, thereby allowing Lee to deliver a love letter to the city and its multi-cultural vibrancy. But in doing so, it also affords the opportunity to examine the inherent problems of such a diverse society - the divisions caused by wealth and poverty, race, politics and navigating modern life.

Washington stars as prolific and revered music-producer legend David King, owner of one of the most influential black record labels in the world and a king in his own right: a man with a legendary ear for hit-making, who can make or break an artist.

As we meet him, King is surveying all before him from high upon his plush penthouse apartment. He’s happily married to his wife, Pam (Ilfenesh Hadera), a philanthropist supporting black causes, while his teenage son, Trey, is a talented basketball player. King himself is weighing up whether to sell his record label in a multi-million deal or regain control of it by buying a majority share, so that he can rediscover the excitement of his early, reputation forming heyday. He is clearly leaning towards the latter.

But then news filters through that his son has been kidnapped, with the perpetrator seeking a cool $17.5 million ransom: effectively everything King has got.

The initial negotiation is suitably tense, as it quickly becomes clear that the kidnapper (a down-on-his-luck rapper played by real-life star A$AP Rocky) bears a personal grudge against King for overlooking him.

It then transforms into a deeper moral dilemma as it also becomes clear that Trey wasn’t actually taken; rather, the victim is Trey’s best friend and David’s godson Kyle (Elijah Wright) son of David’s driver and family friend Paul (Jeffrey Wright, Elijah’s dad in real life), an ex-con who has offered up a lifetime of service.

King must therefore decide whether to ‘do the right thing’ and pay up, thereby risking his fortune and business plans, or hold onto the money given the kidnapper’s mistake.

The ensuing film affords Lee and company much room for moral and ethical complexity, which in turn plays to the strengths of its talented cast.

Washington is typically mesmerising as King; his scenes of deliberation and consultation with family members and an anguished Wright shot through with angst, recrimination, doubt and hubris. To his credit, Washington doesn’t play King as a man to necessarily be liked; but rather a product of his environments - both rich and poor.

There’s an arrogance about him, befitting a man who has created such a legacy. But there’s also a loyal friend and devoted dad, mindful of his responsibilities as both of those. When King does eventually decide on the right thing, the path isn’t an easy one. The exchange - set during a brilliantly orchestrated subway ride, set amidst the backdrop of a street parade and a New York Yankees game - doesn’t go as planned.

But the scenarios also provide room for social commentary; with Lee taking a look at social media and popularity as currency; the corruption of black cultural expression and the divide between rich and poor.

Arriving amidst a second Trump presidency and all that it represents (most notably the abuse of power and the reward of corruption and proven criminality), Lee posits Washington’s nemesis, Rocky, as someone who eventually finds fame through criminality, and positions King as the man who can choose whether to reward it.

In doing so, he also examines the corruption of rap music in general; a genre that once existed as a form of protest, but which increasingly represents the things it was once rallying against.

Similarly, his dissection of social media and its reach as currency offers some astute - of obvious - observations surrounding the morality and worth of leading a life devoted to image or brand, while avoiding the dangers of cancel culture.

There’s a lot going on, as you’d expect from a Spike Lee joint.

But this doesn’t detract from the muscular nature of the thriller underpinning the film. And just as he did with thrillers such as Inside Man and The 25th Hour, Lee keeps both the drama and the action compelling, throwing in plenty of twists and keeping viewers alert.

The overall result is mesmerising, with Washington and Wright on tip top form. 

Certificate: 15

Running time: 2hrs 13mins