Posted by cynicalderek at ky-richmond1d-253.rhmdky.adelphia.net on June 11, 2003 at 02:03:33:
In Reply to: Re: Just watched the 25th Hour *spoilers* posted by cloudnin on June 11, 2003 at 01:38:46:
i didn't see the commentary, because i rented the VHS. i agree that the movie would have lost something if it would have had the happy fantasy ending. i'd like to think that he got out in 7 years, and his friend Barry Pepper kept his promise and they opened a bar together. i mean, it's just 7 years. yes, that's a long time to be in prison, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't seem like that long. i think that Norton's character was smart enough to realize that.
: In Spike Lee's commentary, he says pretty conclusively that he's going to jail and the fantasy sequence was nothing more than what might have been (I'm pretty sure his dad didn't even say any of those things we heard in the voice over). I haven't read the book yet though so I don't know if it's open-ended in the book and that's just Lee's interpretation or that's the definitive answer. I would have liked the movie less if the avoiding jail fantasy was anything more than that. The movie is about a guy's last day before going to prison for 7 years and then, surprise, he's not going to prison.