#269 | Is ‘The 25th Hour’ Better as a Novel or Movie? A Truly Great New York City Story and One-Two Combo of Book and Film—David Benioff & Spike Lee
Quick SUMMARY:
Douglas Vigliotti compares David Benioff’s novel "The 25th Hour" with its film adaptation directed by Spike Lee for another edition of “Novel vs Movie”. He explores the story of Monty Brogan, a drug dealer facing his last day of freedom, and discusses themes of regret, nostalgia, relationships, and the consequences of choices. Vigliotti highlights differences between the book’s pre-9/11 setting and the film’s post-9/11 New York, praising both versions but favoring one for a broader perspective and emotional depth. In any case, he highly recommends both the novel and the film.
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TOPICS COVERED IN the EPISODE:
Introduction & Episode Overview (00:09) - Host introduces the "Novel vs. Movie" theme, outlines the episode's focus on "25th Hour," and mentions the newsletter.
About David Benioff & His Works (01:24) - Background on author David Benioff, his novels, and his role in "Game of Thrones."
Movie Adaptation & Cast (02:26) - Discussion of the film adaptation, its cast, and standout performances, especially Tony Siragusa.
Spike Lee’s Filmography & New York Crime Novels (03:27) - Mentions Spike Lee’s notable films and other New York City crime novels.
Plot Summary & Main Character (04:31) - Overview of "25th Hour" plot, focusing on Monty Brogan’s last day before prison.
Themes & Book vs. Movie Differences (05:43) - Explores themes of regret, nostalgia, and the major difference: the film’s post-9/11 setting.
Iconic Mirror Scene & Cinematic Achievements (07:00) - Highlights the film’s famous mirror monologue and its cinematic impact.
Character Focus & Tonal Comparison (08:04) - Compares the novel’s interiority with the film’s broader character focus and discusses the tone.
Endings & Personal Preference (09:19) - Contrasts the book’s open ending with the film’s directness; host shares preference for the film.
Favorite Book Quote & Closing Thoughts (10:24) - Shares a favorite quote from the novel, offers final thoughts, and encourages reading and watching both versions.
Outro & Listener Engagement (11:25) - Thanks listeners, promotes the host’s new book, and provides ways to connect and sign up for the newsletter.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to Books for Men, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do so. This week I have another edition of Novel vs Movie, and it is an excellent one. One that is neck and neck in my eyes. “The 25th Hour” by David Benioff. So it came out in 2001. It's around 220 pages or so. The movie came out very quickly after the book was published, so in 2002, it runs at around 135 minutes, or just over two hours. And it was also written by Benioff, but it was directed by the great Spike Lee. So I will talk a little bit more about the author and the book and the story, and why I like one of the two better than the other, as well as some of the differences and all of that good stuff. I'll even share a couple of my favorite quotes. But before I do that, I wanted to just quickly remind you of the companion newsletter that goes with this podcast. And that's just a once-a-month email that rounds up all of the episodes from that month, complete with full book and author information, episode summaries, all of my favorite quotes, and additional book recommendations.
01:24 - So if that's something that you are interested in, you could find out more information about it and you could sign up for it on the website BooksforMen.org. Okay, so now the author, David Benioff, he's someone who I've actually featured on this podcast previously. He's the author of two novels and one short story collection. He's most known for the hit TV show “Game of Thrones”, where he was the writer and showrunner along with D.B. Weiss. This is something that I talked about in more detail in that first episode, and of course, that was “City of Thieves”. I think it was about a year or two ago. I can't remember. Either way, it will be linked up in the show. Notes, evident by being a repeat author on the podcast, should be apparent that I really like his crime novels, even though he's only written two of them. And just like “City of Thieves”, “The 25th Hour” is on the shorter side. As I already mentioned at the top of this episode, it's weighty, gritty, pitch-perfect to me, really for my taste, and it's the kind of crime novel that you just don't see often in a popular sense anymore.
02:26 - Having said that, he also wrote the screenplay for the movie adaptation of “The 25th Hour”, which was, as I mentioned, directed by Spike Lee and starred Ed Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rosario Dawson, Barry Pepper, and Brian Cox. So it really is a star-studded cast. But interestingly, one of my favorite performances in the movie is from Tony Siragusa, who makes an appearance, and honestly, his character is just so memorable whenever you watch it. I couldn't get over how well he played that role. He kind of steals the screen many times, even amongst all these great actors, which was pretty interesting to me. I do think that the novel and the movie are nose to nose, and it's why I thought this would be a good episode. It's really hard to pick which one is better. It's one of the best in my opinion. One-two combo of novels and movies. And since I mentioned his name twice already, Spike Lee, I should just remind you of the great movies that he has directed and written.
03:27 - In some instances, whether it's “Crooklyn” or “Do the Right Thing”, “BlacKkKlansman”. “Inside Man” is another one. Oh, and “Clockers”, which is an adaptation of a Richard Price novel. Of course, someone who I have featured on this podcast and has written one of my favorite crime novels of all time, “Lust Life”, which is centered in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Another great New York City novel, just like “The 25th Hour”. Something I will talk about in moments here. I should probably spin into the story since I seem dead set on getting ahead of myself like normal. In short, this story is about Monty Brogan, a convicted drug dealer, and his last day of freedom before going to prison for seven years. So it's pretty simple in a plot sense, but there's a lot more packed into it. And in the movie, Monty is played by Ed Norton really faithfully and believably, I should say vintage Ed Norton, “Primal Fear”, “Rounders”, “Fight Club”, Ed Norton. He's just really great in this role.
04:31 - All the roles are just amazing, and that's part of one of the reasons why the movie is so good, along with some of the things that I will get into in just a moment. But the story is really just a dissection of regret and nostalgia. Relationships change, dealing with consequences of choices, and in a bittersweet way, it's the handling of possible alternate lives, something that I think we all grapple with in some context, I'd say the biggest change with the film from the novel is Spike Lee's choice to center the narrative in a post 9/11 world, rather than a pre 9/11 world. So the novel is set before 9/11, whereas the movie is set after 9/11. While this might not seem like it's that big of a deal, when you consider the weight of the city of New York on the story. It really feels like a character, almost, and perhaps even more so in the film than in the novel. That decision of when the story is told makes a much bigger difference. It's almost as if New York is a stand-in for our protagonist.
05:43 - So the anger, the blame, the loss, the resilience it all just marries so well with the journey that our protagonist goes on. You know, there's this iconic scene where Ed Norton is speaking into a mirror, and he's revealing his interiority through a monologue about the prejudices and problems within the neighborhoods of New York City. And it's really advocating the anger and frustration of misplaced blame, and something that was fervent and collective in the city at the time. Now, I'm not going to recite the whole monologue because it's very long. It would be almost impossible for me to do. The movie. You should watch it just to hear that. But it does start with something like this. “Fuck this whole city and everyone in it. Let earthquakes crumble it. Let the fires rage. Let it burn the fucking ash. And then let the waters rise and submerge this whole rat-infested place.” And then he goes on this big rant and runs through all the boroughs and neighborhoods. And it's just this amazing scene, because the cutting in the montage work that accompanies it is also amazing.
07:00 - So it's really a cinematic achievement in a way. In the novel, of course, what you get is that constant interiority of our protagonist, or more of it, I should say. The film focuses a bit more on the cast of characters and how they are dealing with the impending loss of Monty in their lives, just as much as it's Monty dealing with the choices that he's made in his life. Tonally, I feel both the movie and the book are similar in their gritty realism and somewhat bleak depiction of the world or this world, a style, though, that I must admit is a top of the list for me from an aesthetic standpoint. So it's really not a hard sell. It might be for you if you prefer something a bit more fantastical and a little bit less metaphoric. On that note, I do feel obligated to comment on the ending. The book is a little bit more open-ended, whereas the movie is a little more on the nose, but I won't ruin it and share specifics for me.
08:04 - Both land well because they articulate the larger themes of the story, so it really just comes down to a matter of preference. I don't think one is better than the other necessarily. And ultimately, I have to conclude that as much as I love the book and feel stylistically aligned with how Benioff writes on a sentence level, I think the film actually amplifies the story and makes it even more compelling. The acting, directing, cinematography, and I would say overall, just that collective layer that deals with 9/11 and overlays the city as this focal point in the main character, but also the collectiveness of other points of view. So you're dealing with all of those themes of regret, nostalgia, relationships, change, dealing with the consequences of choices, all of that stuff. You're seeing it through the eyes of Ed Norton and Monty Brogan, but you're also seeing it through all of the tertiary and secondary characters. This is something that you usually get in the novel, but in this case, I think that the movie does, actually, a better job of this.
09:19 - So in a way, the movie is more of a collective vision on this story, whereas the novel is a more personal vision on this story, if that makes sense. And so for that reason, I actually, in this instance, prefer the film. Having said that, I think it's totally worth it and reasonable to read and watch both. The novel is short enough, and the movie is, you know, standard length. So I think that this is a great one-two combo for anybody to read and watch. It's a great New York City story. So if you're interested in stories, books, movies, whatever it is about New York City, this one has to be at the top of the list. And even though I prefer the film over the novel in this sense, there is a quote that comes directly from the book that is not in the movie, and it's actually a character that's not even in the movie. Another troubled street guy who is friends with Monty, and he's having a conversation with him, and there's a little bit of dialogue that I just love, and it goes like this.
10:24 – “‘You understand, my boy. I can't help you, and you can't help me. Nobody can help anybody.’ ‘I don't believe that.’ (Monty says) ‘The trouble with this world,’ says LoBianco, ‘it has nothing to do with what people believe.’” I'll let you stew on that as I close out this episode. I wanted to thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this edition of Novel vs Movie. If you did, I want to remind you to please click subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on. It is the best way for new listeners to find the show and in return, inspire more men to read. If you want to connect with me, maybe tell me how I'm doing. Maybe tell me what you thought about this episode. There are two ways you can do so: on Instagram @DouglasVigliotti. It's the only social media that I have, or via my website, DouglasVigliotti.com. As a quick reminder, I do have a new book out. It is titled “Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story”. If that sounds like something you're interested in, all you have to do is visit the website AristotleforNovelists.com. Last but not least, if you want more information on this podcast specifically, which includes signing up for that newsletter I mentioned at the top of the episode, then all you have to do is head over to the website BooksforMen.org.
