Hi there,
Welcome to a movie review of a film I recently watched. As a means to start my weekend, I watched Spike Lee's latest movie, which is his fifth collaboration with the renowned acting legend Denzel Washington. They have both worked on remarkable movies like Malcolm X in 1992, Inside Man in 2006, and now this one, which happens to be their latest, Highest to lowest.
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A quick Google search of the movie will tell you that it is a present-day remake of the Akira Kurosawa film High and Low from 1963. But what you would not get is how interesting and insightful the movie is. The movie centers on Denzel Washington as a music mogul who runs and has a partial stake in Stacking Records. Denzel, or Mr. King as he goes by in the movie, is known to have a good ear for music, and as expected, he gets to receive a lot of requests from wannabe stars stating they are the next big thing.
While Mr King is being sold the dream, he is almost every day preoccupied by his desire to buy back his company from owners like himself. Although there is an offer on the table for the purchase of his record label, he refuses to sell because he believes the buyers will simply decipher and sell it for the parts or infuse artificial intelligence into the music-making process. Instead, Mr King wants to take a big and bold risk by taking out a loan on his house, selling stocks, and even liquidating a couple of assets just to buy up the ownership of his record label.
But things took a turn when his son was kidnapped and a ransom demand of 17.5 million dollars was made in Swiss francs. Every other thing was placed on hold until the safe return of his kid. Fortunately, the boy was mistaken for another person. Since King's son handed over his headband to his best friend Kyle, the kidnapper took Kyle instead. After it became obvious that a mistake was made, the real question was whether Mr. King would pay the ransom for a boy who was only his godson and his best friend's child. Bear in mind that 17.5 million is a huge chunk of Mr. King's wealth due to other tied-up deals and ongoing negotiations for Stacking Records.
Would you give out a chunk of your money for the safety of another person's child?
Honestly, for me, I would. Given that Kyle is not just any child, he is also a part of the family, and it is a human life after all. A part of me believes that with Mr. King's reputation and fame, he should be able to make that money back with the next big hit artist he signs. I know it is not that simple, like that, and when put in that position, people may choose to act differently. I am not a fan of spoilers, so I would advise you to check out the movie yourself and find out what Mr. King finally did.
A major boost for me watching this movie was the chemistry between Spike Lee, the producer of the movie, Denzel Washington, the main protagonist, and Asap Rocky, the rapper antagonist. Yeah, that is right, Asap Rocky was in the movie, and I must say the guy can really act. I admired how he looked up to Denzel and Spike Lee with so much admiration for the works they have done, and how he paid so much respect to them. For him, the movie Highest to Lowest was simply a big opportunity for him to act alongside an idol he idolized, so it made a lot of sense for him to always be starstruck while on set.
Highest to Lowest is a thumbs up for me, you all should go check it out if you haven't already.
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Thanks For Reading!
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