Spike Lee has seen too many movies.
How else to explain “Highest 2 Lowest,” a farcical thriller where nearly every twist feels like it was cribbed from a lesser film. Shouldn’t Lee know better?
Even worse, he doesn’t know what to do with one of our greatest living actors. Yes, Lee and Denzel Washington made magic in the past, but the actor’s role here never makes sense.
Not in the beginning, middle or end of the film. That’s movie magic in reverse.
Washington stars as David King, a music mogul struggling through a professional crisis. Should he sell his company and cash out after some lean years? Or could he reinvest in Stackin’ Hits Records and prove he’s not a one-career wonder?
That decision gets shelved when his teenage son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) is kidnapped. The crooks want some of Daddy’s millions to set him free. A lot of his millions, to be precise.
David will do anything to save his son, but what happens when the kidnapping crisis changes, and it’s no longer his son who needs saving? The film’s moral compass starts to spin, and now the father in crisis is David’s chauffeur and longtime friend Paul (Jeffrey Wright).
The screenplay, credited to Alan Fox but bearing all the hallmarks of Lee’s worldview, drops plenty of exposition in the first half hour. What it doesn’t offer is psychological depth, the kind a movie like this demands.
Washington makes David King both arrogant and conflicted, his mannerisms suggesting a rough and tumble past smoothed over by decades of extreme wealth. But who is this David King? The screenplay isn’t sure, leaving Washington to occasionally overact to sell the performance.
It’s one of his weaker efforts, full stop.
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“Highest 2 Lowest” is a Spike Lee Joint through and through. The film peddles black empowerment at a near-constant clip, from a fawning image of Kamala Harris prominently featured in one scene to lingering close-ups of black art decorating David’s home.
It doesn’t end there, and when Lee isn’t selling cultural cues, he’s admiring the Big Apple.
“Highest 2 Lowest” rivals peak Woody Allen in its adoration of all things New York City. Puerto Rican culture. Sparkling skyscrapers. Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees. It plays out as endlessly self-indulgent, more signs of Lee signaling his interests rather than building an airtight story.
(Personal aside: This critic was born in The Bronx, adores the Yankees and grew up on Long Island, and I found it suffocating)
Lee’s film, a loose update on Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low,” attempts some crude social commentary in between kidnapping updates. Think fears of being “canceled” and brand protection in the digital age, along with a swipe at A.I. None of it is compelling or nuanced, nor does it raise the stakes of the key storylines.
The film’s third act is a mess, including a confrontation that’s as head-slapping dumb as any horror movie cliche.
Spike Lee reflects on working with Denzel Washington and A$AP Rocky in “Highest 2 Lowest.” pic.twitter.com/ERTqnx7pIK
— E! News (@enews) August 12, 2025
A true bright spot is an extended appearance by rapper A$AP Rocky, playing a musician who admires David King’s rise to fame. Lee channels the rapper’s energy to perfection, giving the film an undeniable pulse. The cinematography is also a plus, including an opening montage of Manhattan visuals that is both obvious and exhilarating.
Lee also stages a key kidnapping sequence with the skills he’s sharpened over the years. What a shame that it makes little sense and is repeatedly interrupted by Lee’s New York fetishizing.
Love New York all you want, but make it organic to the story. Please.
The rest? “Highest 2 Lowest” feels artificial from start to finish, a movie made by someone disconnected from the real world. Fame can do that to an artist, even an Oscar winner like Lee. The proof stains every frame of “Highest 2 Lowest.”
HiT or Miss: Spike Lee movies are never dull. Sadly, they’re often not very good, either. “Highest 2 Lowest” falls into the latter category.