00:00Shout out to my brother, Father Flager, Saints of Bionic Church.
00:03Father Flager, what's up?
00:05Love you.
00:06I love you.
00:07Aw, I love that so much, Spike.
00:09I mean, yeah, despite, you know, you not being a bullseye.
00:11I thought I was just joking with that.
00:13I got love for the Windy City.
00:16You know you have love.
00:17And we have so much love for you.
00:19I am so excited to talk about your new film, Highest to Lowest.
00:22It is hitting all the points for me.
00:25And I know it's going to hit all the points for everybody because this is a crime thriller.
00:29We have Denzel, who plays this big shot music mogul in the movie.
00:36So already, Denzel, I'm like, okay, you had me at Denzel, first of all.
00:39So we have music.
00:40We have Denzel.
00:42We have a ransom for a loved one of his.
00:45I'm sure there's going to be a lot of layers in this film.
00:48What about this story intrigued you and why did you want to tell it?
00:52Well, number one, Denzel called me up and said, I'm going to send you the script.
00:56Denzel and I and I worked together, you know, for some years before that.
01:00And even before the script arrived, I knew I was going to do that.
01:04Well, I want to touch upon what you said because this film involves a ransom.
01:12And this film is about moral scruples.
01:14And we have such a dynamic actor as Denzel Washington.
01:21Wherever he's going through, the audience is going through at the same time.
01:25So when you see when Denzel, his character in this film is set with a ransom plot to pay money
01:31for a child that's not his,
01:35I think the audience, with the power of Denzel, puts themselves, put themselves in their shoes.
01:44What would they do in that situation?
01:47And that's the, you know, only great actors can do that at the audience, in the theater,
01:55put themselves in what they're seeing on screen.
01:59You guys have done five films together, you and Denzel, since 1990.
02:03That first film, now it's 2025.
02:06How do you see your relationship evolve together?
02:09Is it just easy now?
02:10And is it like, this is fun, we're going to have fun together?
02:13Or is it just an evolution?
02:15And you still find yourselves gelling together and finding new things about each other?
02:19We gelled with the first film, Mo' Better Blues.
02:22As you said, that was 1990.
02:24And as we've gotten older, I think the relationship has deepened.
02:30And it's a thing where, like, we don't have to, you know, we have, you know, telepathy, you know.
02:36We don't have to discuss everything.
02:38We know what it is.
02:39We got the vibe.
02:41We're on the level.
02:44And we just roll.
02:46It's evolved.
02:47So we don't have to have, like, conversations, deep conversations with what we're doing.
02:51And we're on the same wavelength.
02:56And we go with it.
02:57Like all of your movies, music is such an important element.
03:01But why did you make him a music mogul?
03:03He could have been any type of CEO.
03:05But why music?
03:07Why was that so important in this movie in particular?
03:09But the original film, played by the great Japanese actor Toshiro Mufuni, he played a shoe executive.
03:16So that wouldn't work, really.
03:21So it just doesn't have that.
03:25Mogul.
03:26Just put it in a different world, there'll be a lot more relatable to oysters today.
03:32We're all proud of our cities, whether you're from Chicago, L.A., New York.
03:37Chicago's a great sports town.
03:38I can't.
03:39I'm not going to hate on that.
03:41I appreciate that so much.
03:42But I know you come to Chicago and visit.
03:44When you're here in Chicago, what do you admire about our city?
03:48You know, being a New Yorker looking in.
03:50It's because you're all about culture, too.
03:52So what do you think about Chicago culture?
03:53First negative thing first, then I'll give you the love.
03:56Okay.
03:58Eating pizza with a fork?
04:05How about it?
04:06And New Yorkers, we don't eat pizza with a fork.
04:09We fold it in half.
04:10Yeah.
04:12With a fork?
04:14Nah.
04:16Nah.
04:17Put that aside.
04:18All right.
04:19I just love the people of Chicago.
04:21Simple as that.
04:22It's the people.
04:23Thank you so much, Spike.
04:24We appreciate it.
04:25Put the sports aside.
04:28Let's leave sports out of it.
04:30Let's leave sports aside.
04:30We're talking about our love for music today, about Highest to Lowest, which is such an incredible film.
04:36This being a new project of yours, what are you proud of in particular about this film?
04:41I'm proud of a body of work.
04:45I'm proud of this film.
04:46Proud of that this is the fifth film, Denzel, I've done together.
04:49Mobile to Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, Inside Man, and now the dynamic duo is back.
04:57Dee and Lee.
04:59Yeah, Dee and Lee.
05:00The dynamic duo is back.
05:03We love it.
05:04We're excited.
05:05We are so excited.
05:06We know who Robin is.
05:09Exactly.
05:12We know who's Robin.
05:13We know who's Robin.
05:15We know who's Robin.
05:16Yes, we do.
05:17And this is a thriller.
05:19It's action-packed.
05:20There is a ransom.
05:21But what do you think you would do in that type of dilemma?
05:24Did you ever think about that?
05:25Gosh, if I were in somebody, if you were in that character's shoes, what would I do?
05:31I'm glad you asked that question because the power, great actors, whatever trial, tribulations
05:38they're going through, the audience goes to that too.
05:42And so people who watch this film thinking, would they pay the ransom?
05:48The duo is back, right?
05:50The duo.
05:51Thank you very much.
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