HIGHEST 2 LOWEST

by Victoria Alexander

Rich people problems.

David King (Denzel Washington) says to a business colleague: “There’s more to life than making money.”

Yes, David, you are right, since you are wearing a $150,000 watch, have a magnificent penthouse with huge Basquiats on the walls, and a philanthropic, beautiful wife, Pam (Ilfenesh Hadera), wearing a $3 million ring and a gem-studded bracelet. And, along with massive wealth, you are a huge cultural kingpin in the music industry.

David is so renowned, the U.S. issued a forever stamp with his face on it.

Director Spike Lee has not spent time with real people in over 50 years. I know this because until the story gets going, the dialogue (by screenwriter Alan Fox) between David and Pam is terrible. David is a devoted husband, and they are a sexually happy couple. They are a team. Pam reminds David their yearly massive check for a charity is due. Pam is on the board, and it is their cultural responsibility. David meekly tells her to wait a few days.

They are so close, David does not tell Pam he is about to lose his company. The company’s board has decided to sell to a big music empire that has been showing serious interest.

David has taken out a loan to buy out the investors and have complete control of the business he has spent his life building. So that big check is going to be a little late. This is a shock to Pam. What will their friends think? David reminds Pam they have huge assets and he has taken out mortgages on the Sag Harbor house and the magnificent penthouse. All she needs to do is cut down on the daily flowers.

HIGHEST 2 LOWEST drags along setting up the relationships of David and Pam, David’s friend and driver Paul (Jeffrey Wright), and 17-year-old son Trey (Aubrey Joseph).

Trey is upset his father is too involved in his music empire to go to his basketball practice. He is more interested in his father’s music business. He wants to bring a young woman he found to sing for his father but is rebuffed. This is a shortcoming of the screenplay. If this is the underlying father-son drama, it is a weak conflict. David is too wealthy to have a non-achieving son.

Everything privileged Trey has is because his father works 15 hours a day. After basketball practice, he goes off with his best friend and Paul’s son, Kyle (Elijah Wright). They have grown up together, and Paul and Kyle are considered part of the King family.

David gets a call telling him Trey has been kidnapped and the ransom is $17.5 million. David needs that money to buy out his partners, but faced with this crisis, he reluctantly agrees to pay the ransom. Pam is sort of upset Trey has been kidnapped. She does not cry but hides her face in David’s shoulder. Pam spends the next days composed with perfect hair and makeup. Maybe Hadera could not cry on cue, or crying would mess up her hair and makeup. Instead of taking Xanax and being a hysterical mother, Pam lets the big investigation team—Earl Bridges (John Douglas Thompson), Bell (LaChanze), and Higgins (Dean Winters)—handle everything.

Drama mounts when David has a conflict with Higgins over strategy. Pam tells the investigative team to clear the massive dining room table to set up a command center.

This reminds me of the famous Patsy Ramsey 911 call saying: “We have a kidnapping…Hurry, please.” Allegedly, while the Ramsey house was filled with police and friends, at some point John Ramsey was seen opening and reading his mail in his den.

When the team locates Trey, they know that it was Elijah who was kidnapped. The kidnapper thought he had taken David’s son. Regardless, the kidnapper calls and says it does not matter. David is to pay $17.5 million for the teenager to be returned unharmed.

Will David pay a huge ransom for another man’s teenage son? Paul cannot pay, and David has a serious moral problem. If he pays the ransom, he will lose the ability to buy his company outright. If David does not pay the ransom, he will be vilified and “cancelled” on social media.

David, why not sell your huge Basquiat? Why not use one of your Basquiats as collateral for a loan? AI says: “This type of financing, known as art-backed lending or art finance, allows collectors and investors to leverage the value of their art collection to access liquidity without having to sell their prized pieces.”

How much are Basquiats? Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa purchased the Jean-Michel Basquiat painting "Untitled" for $110.5 million in 2017. The King’s penthouse is filled with art and fine antiques. David has a Rolls Royce with a driver! And the Basquiats!

If the Basquiats are rented and the Rolls is leased, David’s conundrum is more realistic. But once David’s colleague mentions his many Basquiats, the entire problem collapses for me.

The detectives will follow David as he drops the money off. They will arrest the kidnapper. In a very clever scenario, the drop-off happens to be on Puerto Rican Day with celebrations filled with people dancing in the streets to live performances. David, carrying the money, is directed to take a train. The celebrations and the train scenes are terrific.

The outcome is predictable but enjoyable. I’d rather not summarize Lee’s “joint,” considering if you plan on seeing the movie, why ruin it here? The penthouse is fantastic. Lee shows a sophistication—without any racial overtures, thank God—and gives his star a part designed specifically for him.

HIGHEST 2 LOWEST is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s film HIGH AND LOW from the novel KING’S RANSOM by Evan Hunter. Lee’s film screenplay is by Alan Fox.

"The ALL is Mind; The Universe is Mental."

Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer Critic.

For a complete list of Victoria Alexander's movie reviews on Rotten Tomatoes go to:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/critics/victoria-alexander/movies

Contributing to:FilmsInReview: http://www.filmsinreview.com

Member of Las Vegas Film Critics Society

Personal email:  victoria.alexander.lv@gmail.com