There's New York, and then there's Spike Lee's New York, and the director's vision of the Big Apple takes center stage in "Highest 2 Lowest," his electrifying adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 tale "High and Low."

No one shoots New York like Spike, and here the city is bustling and bursting with life, from his ebullient opening shots of the Brooklyn Bridge (set to the "Oklahoma!" tune "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," of all songs) to the thrilling action scene he stages on the city's subway cars and in its streets to his worshipping at the baseball temple that is Yankee Stadium. The story hits the brakes so characters can praise the Knicks and bash the Celtics, and at one point, the Puerto Rican Day Parade completely overtakes the screen. Lee lets his New York shine, and the city does th

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