Lee’s elegiac 25TH HOUR is perhaps one of the only films that adequately addresses 9/11, using a man’s final day of freedom as a metaphor for the “before and after” of that tragic day. Monty (Edward Norton) has been convicted on drug charges, and is facing a seven-year sentence. In the hours before reporting to prison, Monty shares a meal with his father, reconnects with his friends, and says goodbye to his girlfriend. Without explicitly addressing 9/11, Lee captures the damaged mood of NYC as it rebuilt its very soul in this a gentle essay on change.