25th Hour is a divisive movie that you either think is one of the best of the aughts, or a lame boilerplate Spike Lee joint. The movie follows Edward Norton through his final day of freedom before beginning a 10 year sentence for possession of heroin. There are no giddy affirmations, no last-minute confessions of love, no sudden changes of heart during this 24 hour period. Just people being the terrible people they have always been. Even in the face of what is essentially the end of their best friend’s life, no one can seem to get their shit together. The disturbing thing is how real it feels. How many people have truly changed over night? How many people have truly been able to make themselves a better person without being browbeaten into it? A final hypothetical fugitive sequence at the end of the movie seals the whole depressing point: even with full knowledge of what can come of a different course of action, it is impossible to make yourself a better person.