How do you make movies about a world you no longer live in? As artists grow older and more successful, should they be lucky enough to do both, they inevitably drift further and further away from the stuff of ordinary life, the environment that most of the people who made them successful still inhabit. It’s not so much of a problem if you make movies that take place on spaceships or in the distant past, but when the setting is meant to be familiar, the disjuncture between their universe and ours can be glaring.

Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest is nominally about a wealthy music producer (Denzel Washington) forced to decide whether it’s worth giving up his fortune to save the life of his oldest friend’s son. But it’s clear that what engages Lee is the opportunity to follow his protagonist t

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