Highest 2 Lowest movie review: Dazzling Denzel Washington performance takes Spike Lee’s latest joint to the next level

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Denzel Washington and Ilfenesh Hadera in a still from Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest.

Little does King know that his ears will soon be put to the test, when his son is kidnapped out of the blue. A stunned King gets a call from the kidnapper, who demands $17.5 million as ransom for his heir. The NYPD shows up at the penthouse, and commandeers the dining room. They tell King to play by the rules and pony up the cash. However, only a few hours later, it is revealed that the kidnapper got the wrong kid. Instead of grabbing King‘s son, he picked up the son of King’s driver, Paul. Thus begins a morality tale about class, compassion, and cascading insecurity. His own child no longer in harm’s way, King is faced with the dilemma of whether he should pay the ransom for another man’s son.

A reformed criminal whose religion is a large part of his personality, Paul happens to be one of his closest associates. “I’m the man next to the man,” he says in an early scene, pleased with his position as a low-key henchman. We don’t know what he really does for King, but it is implied that he’s the guy you call when you want a body buried. Played by Jeffrey Wright, Paul is caught in a dilemma himself. He can’t really blame King for his son being kidnapped, nor can he realistically ask him to pay the ransom. But King has his own image to worry about; if he refuses to pay, he’ll instantly be labeled a villain in the press. And if he does, he could risk losing out on a potentially lucrative business deal he’s putting together, and, as a consequence, his empire.

Highest 2 Lowest is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low, which itself was based on the English-language novel King’s Ransom. This isn’t the first remake that Lee has attempted in the second half of his career. Things blew up in his face the last time, when he made the baffling choice to remake Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy. He essentially disowned the theatrical cut of that film, refusing to dignify it with his trademark ‘A Spike Lee Joint’ credit. This one, however, bears all of his signatures. Hugs are replayed in staccato succession, like they were in his other New York classic, 25th Hour. The main detective, played by John Douglas Thompson, gets to make a speech directly into the camera. And Washington is given perhaps the greatest honour that an actor can ask for in a Spike Lee movie: being the subject of his signature double dolly shot.

He’s phenomenal in the role, finding just the right balance between King’s privileged present and patchy past. His street-smarts threaten to rip through his put-on poise in every conversation that he has with the kidnapper, played by ASAP Rocky. Suddenly, King’s words are littered with expletives and colloquialisms that he’d likely avoid in the white-dominated circles that he has assimilated into. But even when he’s behaving himself, like in the early scenes with his son, Washington has a natural swagger that bubbles to the surface. In any case, asking him to tone it down would be about as foolish as asking Tom Cruise to avoid running in an action scene. It just wouldn’t make sense.

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Denzel Washington in a still from Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest.

Watching Washington in his element is one of the greatest joys in all of mainstream American filmmaking. It’s like being yelled at by Wagner Moura, or inhaling the smoke of Tony Leung’s cigarette. You have no choice but to lean in when Washington breaks out that trademark grin, or when he cocks his head to the side. The script, written by Alan Fox, presents him with plenty of opportunity to showboat, especially in the scenes where he’s required to go toe-to-toe with Wright. It’s like watching to boxers in the ring. Lee doesn’t hold back either; Highest 2 Lowest is his most flamboyant movie in years.

But beneath the flashy visuals and high-strung melodrama, there is an aging artist questioning his own authenticity. Like King, who has clearly escaped the confines of his class, Lee seems to be wondering if he even has the right to tell stories about minorities anymore. That said, he highlights New York’s diversity in one of the most incredibly shot chase sequences in recent memory, a part of which, it seems, was filmed on 16mm. Any Indian director wondering how to devise an ‘interval block’ would do well to study it, and study it again. But it is telling that King identifies the kidnapper by using his one God-given skill, his ear, and that he wiggles his way out of a mess by essentially engaging the enemy in a rap battle. Lee seems to be reassuring himself that, regardless of his success, his films will always be his only mouthpiece. He has no choice in the matter.

Highest 2 Lowest
Director – Spike Lee
Cast – Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, Ice Spice, John Douglas Thompson, Dean Winters
Rating – 4.5/5