For starters, this film surprised me with its simultaneous potency and the easy vibe (not easy to achieve) of a group of buddies at disparate places in their lives who really do feel like they've fallen away from each other. That said, yes, it's full of Spike Lee's usual "film school"isms and (to my mind, anyway) bombast that nearly ALWAYS ruins his great material -- i.e., the scene with Pepper and Seymour Hoffman at the window overlooking ground zero that's then followed by a minute's worth of actual ground zero cleanup footage that just took it too far, IMHO.

But now the score.

I don't like jazz. I don't hate it, I have too much respect for it (plus, my dad worships it and I just can't diss him like that). But really, I don't care for it, never have, 99 percent probable I never will.

Blanchard's stuff usually falls in line with a more jazzy sensibility, at least his earlier stuff. But about six months ago I found a used copy of the CLOCKERS score. I remember it having some strong string and brass writing, so I picked it up. Excellent. Highly recommended, like a more powerful Thomas Newman score and the kind of stuff I can always, always listen to, regardless of mood, time, place or activity.

So I saw 25th Hour's score for sale used before I saw the film and took a chance. I was not disappointed. To the point where what I liked a lot but thought was repetitive upon a first listen gained more power AFTER having seen the film and listening to it again and again.

This is a really really great score.

Were I a filmmaker or in the position to hire composers, I'd go to Blanchard for an appropriate project. As a FILM SCORE MONTHLY article on him recently pointed out (or maybe it was one on Stanley Clarke, or maybe both), it's a shame they basically get relegated to doing "black films". I mean, is anyone in Hollywood paying attention at all, or what? OK, possibly redundant question, but really. You'd think someone with some vision would recognize the quality of a score like this which has absolutely nothing to do with scoring specifically for an "urban audience/feel".

Just wanted to give props to probably one of my favorite scores of last years, all the more so because it took me by surprise at the last minute.

MS

If you are a fan of jazz or Terence Blanchard's music your should probably check out his cd Jazz in Film,which not only has a suite from Blanchard's own wonderful score for the film Clockers but also has great renditions of Goldsmith's Chinatown theme,North's A Streetcar Named Desire and Bernstein's Man With The Golden Arm among others.

Blanchard is a great composer.His music is always unique and he definately deserves more recognition for his talent.The 25th Hour is no exception.It is a dark and powerful work that should be remembered come Oscar time.

I loved the music that Blanchard composed for the Summer of Sam end titles as well.Really good stuff.After I saw the film, I checked out the soundtrack hoping that the end credits cue would be on the disc. But,alas there were no score tracks to be found.

This is a truly magnificent score. I echo most of what has been said above. Jazz has never exaclty 'floated my boat', but the combination of jazz, eastern, and full-scale orchestral music in this score is something impressive. I've had this on repeat for the past few days.

After the film I thought this might be a CD full of repetitions of a good theme, but the variety of the disc is something which maybe I didnt realise on screen.

Jeron

As a film, as well, this is Lee's best picture since Do The Right Thing. Though I think He Got Game and Summer of Sam—man, Adrien Brody is badly miscast!—are good, the former being far more powerful and important, 25th Hour ranks among his best, exceeding anything in Summer of Sam, but barely passing over He Got Game.