The most important part of director Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 High and Low (which in turn was based on the Ed McBain novel King’s Ransom) was never the story of a kidnapping and the police investigation that follows. It was always about the great class divide within a single large city: a very poor man kidnaps the son of a very rich man (or so he thinks), and the rich man must make both an ethical and financial decision about whether he’s going to pay a hefty ransom.
In director/co-writer Spike Lee’s reinterpretation—and his fifth collaboration with Denzel Washington—Highest 2 Lowest, this moral decision has never felt more palpable and resulted in heftier consequences than the ones presented here, making it not only one of Lee’s finest achievements but also one of the year’s best films and one of the greatest remakes in cinema history.
Washington plays music mogul David King, a man said to have the “best ears in the business” for spotting talent and producing hits. He lives with his wife Pam (Ilfenesch Hadera) and teen son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) in the penthouse unit of Brooklyn’s Olympia Dumbo building, overlooking the East River and not far from where David grew up in the Bronx. While he lives a lavish lifestyle, changes in the music industry have seen his company’s profits suffer, so much so that a holding company wants to buy his business for a sizable sum. His board thinks it’s a good deal, even though it’s clear that the new owners will dismantle the label, cut loose any new artists they’re developing and only keep the artists making them the most money. David is convinced that decades of strides he has made to promote Black artists and culture will be scrapped in favor of profit margins, so he liquidates all of his assets to make a bid to buy out his business partner and keep the label for himself. This is all important because when we meet David, he’s about to be the most cash poor he’s been in his adult life, and while he’s passionate about this move, he’s also terrified.
He’s kept most of his wheelings and dealings from his wife, but he does finally tell her, and she reluctantly backs his plan because she believes in him. And then David gets a call from an unknown number saying that his son has been kidnapped, and the kidnapper wants more money than David can possibly pull together without blowing his business deal. And while he’s willing to do it, something in the arrangement shifts before it can be completed. It turns out the kidnappers grabbed not Trey but his best friend Kyle (Elijah Wright), the son of David’s chauffeur Paul (Jeffrey Wright, Elijah’s real-life father), who is also David’s closest and most trusted friend. When the kidnapper realizes this, rather than give Kyle back, he demands the same amount of money or Kyle’s blood will be on David’s hands.
At least initially, David has no intention of paying the money, but during a series of a phenomenally written (by screenwriter Alan Fox) conversations with Paul and Trey, David has a change of heart and agrees to pay the money. Meanwhile, a trio of detectives (LaChanze, John Douglas Thompson, and Dean Winters) do their best to track down the kidnapper either before or during the impossibly complex ransom hand-off.
I don’t think it’s spoiling anything to say that rapper A$AP Rocky (aka Rakim Mayers) plays an aspiring artist known as Yung Felon, who has spent much of the last few years attempting to get his music in front of David King, and that this money grab is both payback and a way to get the man’s attention. Even when the two finally come face to face in Felon’s studio, he believes there’s a deal to be made. The dynamic between the two is electric but also unlike any showdown you’re likely to see this year. Considering he excels at playing men at the top of their game, Denzel hasn’t been this loose and confident since Training Day, and he makes acting choices that are surprising and effective.
The same can be said for Lee’s directing, which is thrilling throughout. Of particular note is the ransom money delivery sequence, which incorporates a Puerto Rican Day parade and a Yankees v Red Sox game and subsequent crowds, both of which make police pursuit near impossible. Lee also plugs in great supporting players in key roles, including Wendell Pierce as David’s attorney, Rick Fox as Trey’s basketball coach, and even Nick Turturro (brother of John) in a hilarious role I won’t give away. Lee seems most interested in contrasting the lives of David and Yung Felon, making us feel for both and even consider whether a compromise can be reached in this day and age.
In so many ways, the film wouldn’t work without Jeffrey Wright’s intense, short-fused right-hand man Paul, an ex-con given a chance at a new life thanks to David. He doesn’t like the way the police are investigating his son’s kidnapping and decides to do a little digging on the street for information. The way he comes up with information in an instant thanks to his street-level connection is thrilling and sometimes funny, but he has the biggest heart of anyone in Highest 2 Lowest, and we’re always rooting for him. It’s exciting to see Lee achieve something so entertaining, personal, and culturally relevant, all in one film, which stays fairly faithful to the original movie until the last third, which it gets better.
The film is now playing in select theaters, and will be available to stream on Apple TV+ on September 5, but make every effort to see this on a big screen because that is absolutely how it was designed to be viewed.
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