Many artists, as they grow older, grow indulgent—particularly men. Sometimes that indulgence leads to brilliance; other times, it leads to excess. This is characteristic of any “blank check” project. Francis Ford Coppola’s maniacal manifesto, Megalopolis (2024), embodies the former, while Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans (2022) takes a gentler, reflective turn. Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest is indulgent, that’s for sure. It’s an unfiltered meditation on the dilemmas of success, offering all the highs and lows of Lee’s filmmaking.
Highest 2 Lowest adapts Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 masterpiece High and Low, itself based on Ed McBain’s 1959 novel King’s Ransom. Kurosawa’s film centered on Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), a shoe company CEO unwilling to compromise on quality, his elevated status symbolized by a home perched high above the city. Today, Lee casts Denzel Washington as David King, founder of Stackin’ Hits and a man with the “best ears in the business”; he surveys New York from the balcony of his Brooklyn high-rise.
King, on the brink of the biggest gamble of his career—taking control of his record label to preserve the quality of its music—is thrust into a moral crisis when the son of his chauffeur, Paul (Jeffrey Wright), is mistakenly kidnapped. He’s ready to pay ransom when he believes at first that it’s his own child, jeopardizing his takeover, but when it turns out to be Paul’s son, the question becomes: Will he do the same for his right-hand man?
Simply put, the first half of Highest 2 Lowest is stilted. Perhaps Lee is trying to honor the slow build-up of its predecessor while shaking off its looming legacy to place his stamp on the story. But as the kidnapping unfolds, each character’s reaction is painfully awkward—a whisper of Kurosawa’s magnificently blocked exposition. It’s made worse as Howard Drossin’s melodramatic score pummels through everything else. This languorous opening is sometimes punctuated by Washington and Wright’s precise performances, a shared Bronx backstory surfacing to give the second act much-needed emotional weight.
And, eventually, it works. Once King retrieves the $17.5 million ransom and rides the Bronx-bound number four train to ferry the cash to the kidnapper (played by A$AP Rocky), Highest 2 Lowest finally gets on track. Lee harnesses the cacophony of New York: a train full of Yankees fans and a Puerto Rican Day celebration. This kicks the film into high gear, with Washington delivering such a committed performance that he reminds us once again why his name belongs in the annals of acting. Lee may miss a few beats and allow too many haphazard monologues, but he keeps the whole film irresistibly watchable. R, 133 min.
Limited release in theaters, streaming on Apple TV+ Fri 9/5
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