Highest 2 Lowest, it went high then low indeed
by Julia Kelm
Highest 2 Lowest, which made a limited theatrical release on Aug. 15, is the newest installment to award-winning director Spike Lee’s filmography. It is also a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 Japanese film High and Low.
I saw this on the last available day at Arcata’s Minor Theater, so if any of you were hoping to catch this after class one day, you’ve unfortunately lost your chance — unless you have an Apple TV+ subscription.
The plot of the film is about a major music mogul, David King portrayed by Denzel Washington, targeted by a ransom plot involving his son and the son of David King’s longtime friend and chauffeur.
Sounds interesting, right? You might be expecting high stakes and crazy action with a plot like that. Unfortunately, this film does exactly what the title of the film says. It starts out high then slowly peeters off into a low, with its 2-hour runtime feeling more like 3.
Beyond boring and uninteresting scenes, the message of the film provides excessive guidance as characters literally repeat the title of the film. I guess Lee really wanted to drive home that this millionaire went from high to low. WoW mOnEy bAd, And aRt aNd INteGrity gOod — I’d rather get up to pee than watch this.
The only part of the film that I enjoyed was seeing Lee’s auteur on the big screen. The double dolly shot — characterized by a dreamy gliding effect of the character — is something I always look forward to in a “Spike Lee joint.”
In all honesty, I think Lee made this lackluster film just for that Apple TV+ check, so I won’t spend much time on how soulless the story of the film feels.
I fear streaming is ruining the future of quality films. Even if we ignore this flop from Lee, we can’t ignore that other big Hollywood names like Quentin Tarantino have projects like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2 produced by Netflix in the coming year. What could we possibly gain from a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel? Same could be said for any other unnecessary sequels or remakes that are bound to come out for years and years to come.
I’m tired of the lack of creative risks in the film industry. I yearn for good original story telling — is that too much to ask from Hollywood?
Since Highest 2 Lowest was such a let down, I’d suggest you watch some other Lee films instead. I watched BlacKKKlansman again recently, which is topical considering the state of the country and can be borrowed from Cal Poly Humboldt’s library if you have a dvd player.
Julia is a journalism major, and is the life and arts editor for the paper. She loves film and is a regular on Letterboxd. She also enjoys going on walks in the forest, and taking pictures to relax. If you have a movie you want her to review, email her at jk328@humboldt.edu.
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