PLOT: When his son is kidnapped, a legendary record company owner (Denzel Washington) doesn’t hesitate to pay the $17.5 million ransom, even if it will effectively ruin him financially. However, when it turns out the kidnappers made a mistake and accidentally took the son of his chauffeur (Jeffrey Wright), he’s faced with a dilemma.
REVIEW: Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest is a remake of the Akira Kurosawa classic High and Low, which, in turn, was based on the crime novel King’s Ransom by Ed McBain. Despite it being the first time Lee has worked with his best leading man, Denzel Washington, in nineteen years, you’d be forgiven for missing this one in theaters—as distributor A24 and Apple Original Films have barely put any marketing muscle behind it. Instead, Apple is banking on people watching the film when it hits their streaming service on September 5th. That’s a shame because Spike Lee Joints are an event, and this is another strong effort from the iconic director.
The premise of Highest 2 Lowest is definitely one you can’t help but chew on. Putting yourself in the Denzel Washington character’s shoes—would you give everything you had to save a child that wasn’t yours? The movie complicates things by making his character, David King, not quite the raving success he seems to be. On the surface, King is known as a kingmaker in the music business, but his record company has been suffering due to the changing industry, and he’s under pressure to sell. Not wanting his catalogue and legacy to be exploited, he’s pulled together a few loans to potentially buy back some valuable stock in the company that will keep it in his hands. Paying the ransom will not only clean him out, it will also wipe away the money he’s leveraged. If he pays, he loses his company and his family’s security—but if he doesn’t, what kind of man is he?
This is the aspect of the premise that no doubt attracted both Lee and Washington to the film—a deeply felt morality tale where King honestly struggles with his responsibility to his family, and his responsibility as a man. Washington delivers a terrific performance as the high-flying King, who faces a dark night of the soul, utterly convincing as both a savvy, charismatic businessman (albeit one who no longer knows the biz like he once did) and a loving family man. His family, including his wife Pam (Ilfenesh Hadera) and son Trey (Aubrey Joseph), desperately want him to pay. Complicating matters is the fact that the man whose son has been taken, Jeffrey Wright’s Paul, is one of his best friends—an ex-con who he’s been trying to help get back on his feet.
The premise gives Lee plenty of runway to tackle a lot of issues of our day that clearly rankle him, including the use of AI in music (something King rails against), cancel culture (if King doesn’t pay, he’ll be “cancelled” by a judgmental public), and classism, with King self-made but still very much on a different plane of existence from Paul.
It also works as a solid thriller, with the second half of the movie revolving around King’s interactions with one of the perpetrators, played by A$AP Rocky in an arresting role. The movie’s centerpiece is a long back-and-forth between the two of them that tackles the notion of class, but also the sense of entitlement faced by a younger generation. It’s heavy stuff, but Lee keeps the movie moving at a quick pace, with the 137-minute running time flying by. Technically, it’s impeccable, with gorgeous cinematography by Matthew Libatique and an immaculately curated soundtrack.
It’s a shame more people won’t see this one theatrically, as Lee certainly shot this movie for the big screen, with the sound design in a climactic chase sequence through the Puerto Rican Day Parade especially well done. It cuts between the cops, a rampaging group of Yankees fans, and the late Eddie Palmieri (who just passed a few weeks ago) jamming on the piano.
Hopefully people seek this one out, as a Spike Lee Joint is always an event, and the fact that it reteams him with Denzel makes it even more so. Don’t wait for streaming to see this one.
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