Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 masterpiece “High and Low” – a gripping drama about class stratification, and morality, and whether the choices we make really matter – is the last movie that warrants a remake. But, for as much as Spike Lee’s new film “Highest 2 Lowest” follows almost the exact same structure as its inspiration, it’s amazing what a different voice, different context, and different intentions can do.
The bare bones of the story are roughly the same: Toshiro Mifune’s shoe company executive Kingo Gondo becomes David King (Denzel Washington), a record company mogul with “the best ears in the business,” planning to buy back his label Stackin’ Hits out from under those who want to sell it off. That plan is halted, however, when a kidnapper – an aspiring rapper named Yung Felon (A$AP Rocky) takes David’s son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) and asks for a ruinous amount of money to give him back. Things become more complicated when it’s revealed that the kidnapper made a mistake. The kid in question is not Trey, but rather Kyle (Elijah Wright): the son of David’s friend and chauffeur, Paul (Jeffrey Wright).
“High and Low” is a film about a man brought low, forced into a lose-lose situation where he must do a truly selfless act – AKA, one that not only does not benefit him, but arguably makes him worse off (“I did a good thing, but I don’t feel good,” David laments in “Highest 2 Lowest.”). As thrilling as it is, it’s not a movie that you could conceivably call “funny,” or a “good time.”
Read Sammie’s full review on Rough Draft
