Spike Lee | 2hr 13min
Just because Highest 2 Lowest fails to reflect even a trace of Akira Kurosawa’s genius doesn’t mean that Spike Lee should necessarily steer clear of adapting his work. Grand, urban tales grounded in historic archetypes are his wheelhouse after all, and in theory, High and Low could have been an ideal canvas for him to reimagine the story of a botched kidnapping and the searing moral dilemma that follows. Perhaps the use of ‘Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’’ from Oklahoma to open the film should prepare us for Lee’s questionable choices, but for those holding out hope Highest 2 Lowest might regain its footing, that optimism is tested early and often.
Not even Denzel Washington’s typically strong presence is enough to anchor the story in the gritty, psychological intensity it so desperately calls for. In place of wealthy businessman Kingo Gondo, previously played by Japanese screen legend Toshirô Mifune, he gives us David King, New York City music mogul and founder of Stackin’ Hits Records. His world revolves around elevating new talent, some of whom even ambush him in the foyer at work, so it is disappointing indeed that Howard Drossin’s insipid score of strings, piano, and horns actively pulls us out of the film’s culturally rich setting. What should be a vibrant soundscape that pulses with energy and inspiration instead severely flattens the tension of David’s son’s apparent abduction, and the subsequent reveal that it was his chauffeur’s son who was mistakenly taken instead.
Where a better Lee film would consistently swing hard for audacious set pieces, Highest 2 Lowest teases us with glimpses of what could have been. Coming to terms with paying the ransom, David works closely with police to catch the kidnapper at the exchange, and it is here where Lee’s direction comes alive. While David drops the backpack of money from a train and the police intercepts a masked accomplice, a Puerto Rican Day Parade bursts into view with salsa music and dancers, and Lee carries a rhythmic urgency in his intercutting between these parallel threads. As one of the few moments where Highest 2 Lowest truly taps into the cultural effervescence of New York, the set piece crackles with life, mirroring the moral and emotional turbulence at the heart of the story.
Nevertheless, Alan Fox’s undercooked screenplay continues to fail Lee. David’s ability to match the kidnapper’s voice on the phone to a rapper known as Yung Felon cleverly ties his musical instincts into the plot, but once again, the pay-off is dramatically inert. Gone is the meticulous, drawn-out procedural of High and Low which led us along a trail of clues to unmask the culprit, and in its place, we get a single stroke of luck impatiently moving the narrative forward.
The late-game appearance of A$AP Rocky doesn’t necessarily reveal any great hidden acting talent, yet through the villain of Yung Felon, we find perhaps the most compelling motivation for any character. While attempts to develop David through his frustration with the growing influence of AI never quite lead anywhere, the infamy that Yung Felon seeks offers a bitter indictment of celebrity culture and its hollow metrics of success. The first time they come face to face in a music studio, the dim, blue lighting encases them in a spectral glow, while their division on either side of the recording booth window offers a fragile barrier between their respective domains of passion and ambition.
In moments like these, Lee shows us a far more creatively confident version of Highest 2 Lowest, and rescues the film from falling to its subpar storytelling. New York is his home turf after all, and as we have seen in Do the Right Thing, he is perfectly capable of lending its lively communities a Shakespearean gravitas. Whatever happened here to compromise that extraordinary talent, the result is a film that settles for blandness and begs the question – what might an adaptation of Kurosawa look like if Lee were to truly match his conceptual vision with daring execution?
Highest 2 Lowest is currently streaming on Apple TV +.