Spike Lee's 25th Hour puts a new spin on an old question: what would you do if you knew you had less than 24 hours to live? In this case, the protagonist, Monty Brogan (Edward Norton), isn't headed for the embrace of the Grim Reaper, but he's getting the next best thing. Convicted on a major drugs charge (possession of more than one kilo with intent to distribute), he is headed for an overcrowded, maximum security prison where he will serve a seven year sentence. He has less than a full day of freedom before he must present himself at the penitentiary (why he is free is never explained). In that time, he tries to tie up as many loose ends in his life as he can, spending time with his two close friends – insecure Jakob (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a high school teacher, and fiery Frank (Barry Pepper), a Wall Street broker; his girlfriend, Naturelle (Rosario Dawson); one of Jakob's students, Mary (Anna Paquin); and his father (Brian Cox).

Going to prison isn't Monty's only choice. A three-pronged fork in the road looms ahead. One branch takes him behind bars. Another branch takes him on the run, fleeing to some nameless town to spend the rest of his life in obscurity. The final branch involves putting a bullet through his brain. Don't expect to get a definitive answer to which path Monty chooses. 25th Hour is deliberately (and, some might argue, maddeningly) open-ended, although it offers a tantalizing glimpse of one possibility.

25th Hour moves slowly –it's an unhurried, talky affair that consists primarily of members of the small group of characters interacting, while flashbacks reveal how and why Monty is in his current predicament. The movie seems largely detached from reality, although the tableau is more of a nightmarescape than a dreamscape. There's a sense of time (with the relentless clock ticking away) and place (a cold, inhospitable, post-9/11 New York City). Lee's decision to use digital video and desaturate the color enhance the gloomy atmosphere.

The movie's structure is a little odd. There's just enough about the secondary characters to get us interested, but not enough to satisfy our curiosity. For example, I would have loved to have seen more with Frank at work, or of the dangerous sexual dance between ineffectual Jakob and his sultry, slutty student. Ironically, Monty may be the least interesting character on the screen. With his future so brutally constricted, 25th Hour must resort to mining his past to develop him. In the present, he is understandably glum, angry, frightened, and suspicious of everyone and their motives.

25th Hour has a pair of scenes that leave a lasting impression. The first is a five-minute tirade given by Monty in a restroom. Staring at his reflection in a mirror, he rants and raves against the world, shouting "Fuck you!" to anyone and anything that pops into his mind. I don't know whether this is taken directly from David Benioff's novel or developed by him exclusively for the screenplay, but this is the kind of speech that many movie-geeks will undoubtedly memorize.

The other sequence occurs in Frank's apartment. Overlooking the former site of the World Trade Center, the living room has a window onto New York's grimmest acreage. The camera captures images of the workers cleaning away the debris as Frank and Jakob argue about whether their friendship with Monty has a future. The metaphor is obvious – Monty's future is as bleak as the blasted ground far below. The impact is profound – this is the first film to use Ground Zero as the setting for a scene. Terence Blanchard's superb score enhances the scene's haunting forcefulness.

This is one of those rare occasions when Lee has made a film with a predominantly white cast. Every actor in a significant role is superb, with special credit going to Norton. Hoffman and Pepper are solid, Dawson is wonderful, and Paquin makes us wish she would accept more acting jobs. However, Lee's decision not to focus on African American issues (arguably his "bread and butter")with 25th Hour does not necessarily equate to greater accessiblility for mainstream audiences. This is one of the director's most elliptical efforts, emphasizing atmosphere over plot. For patient viewers, the deliberate pace has its payoff – before long, you will begin to sense Monty's futility and desperation. 25th Hour is not a happy experience, and there are times when it seems to drag, but there's no denying that it lingers in the mind long after the impressions left by other movies have evaporated.