With a sharp story, great acting from a cast of A-list talent, and a clever ending, director Spike Lee’s Inside Man is an entertaining thriller that quickly sucks you into its game of cat and mouse.
The film is loaded with blockbusters stars including Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe, and Christopher Plummer. It was produced by Brian Grazer and written by Russel Gewirtz.
The movie is a bit of a departure from what you would expect from director Spike Lee (it also brought him his biggest commercial success with more than $89 million at the box office), and follows a fast pace that keeps you on the edge of your seat pretty much through the whole film.
Inside Man revolves around a bank robbery that evolves into a hostage situation where the leader of the robbers (Owen) is forced to match wits against NYPD detective Keith Frazier (Washington). Everything seems to be going by the book, but it also seems like the robbers wanted it to turn into a hostage situation rather than a clean getaway.
While Washington and the force lay siege to the bank, Owen and his band of robbers work inside the bank and slowly reveal what they are really after. The group strips the hostages of their clothes and forces them to dress in matching outfits (the bank robbers just happen to be wearing the same thing). They then separate them into different rooms, and slowly start switching people out. This makes it almost impossible to figure out who is in on the crime, and who is a hostage.
The film keeps you guess what the real crime is about
Meanwhile, the bank’s president (Plummer) grows very nervous about what these robbers could be after inside his bank, and just what they might discover. It seems he has a secret hidden in one of the bank’s safety boxes, and it could destroy him if it got out. To help retrieve this problem, Plummer goes to a “problem solver” named Madeline White (Foster) for help.
Calling in favors from powerful friends, White interjects herself into the hostage negotiations, becomes a bit of a thorn for Washington to have to deal with, and even manages a meeting with Owen. Once she is sure that her interests are being looked after, she leaves the scene, but gives Washington even more reasons to doubt this is a simple robbery. When the cops finally do rush the bank, they are faced with hostages all dressed alike, and forced to take everyone downtown to try and sort out the mess.
Throughout the movie, Lee cuts scenes with Washington interrogating the hostages/robbers in an attempt to figure out the truth. At first this is a bit confusing, but it actually becomes enjoyable as you sort out some of the faces behind the crime (the trick plays very much like The Usual Suspects). Always political, Lee also manages to throw in some post-9/11 comments in the background, and a few racial issues. The director never lets the movie lose its focus, but also reminds the audience he hasn’t lost his.
Although the movie does tread on somewhat familiar grounds (a bank stand off is nothing new), it benefits from the strong performances of Washington (who rarely picks a bad movie) and Owen. Both actors really deliver in their roles, and make the cat and mouse game that much more enjoyable. The film’s fast pace is a perfect match for Washington’s intensity, and Owen’s “poker bluff” face keeps you guessing about what is really going on the whole movie. I personally loved the film’s ending.
With that said, the film does have some problems, and the story probably could have been trimmed up to be a bit tighter on some of the dangling plot points. I didn’t think the Foster character and the whole Plummer story were really needed to the overall plot.
Washington and Owen deliver great performances
At times, their story feels like Gewirtz (a first time screenwriter) actually combined two of his scripts to make one movie. Foster’s entire character is a bit too mysterious and gives the film a comic book feel – like she is some kind of super spy or something. I found her more distracting to the overall story, and wished they could have kept the focus simply on the robbery and the interaction between Owen and Washington.
The film is also one that is fun to watch, but suffers from any lack of real character development. You have a strong character in Frazier (who is facing internal affair charges), but that never really comes into the story. Instead, it is just another dangling thread that Lee and Gewirtz fail to capitalize on in favor of more time with Foster. Owen is another character that is never really clearly defined.
Once we know what the real robbery is about, there is never a clear cut reason. There is a brief bit of satisfaction at the end of the film, but not enough to really have his actions make sense. Again, none of the film’s problems weigh it down to the point that it isn’t enjoyable, and I still think it is one of the better crime movies to come out lately.
The DVD comes loaded with special features that fans of Lee, Washington and the film will enjoy. They include 25 minutes of deleted scenes that help with some of the film’s problems but not enough to matter. A feature called Number 4 which has Washington and Lee discussing their films together from "Inside Man" to "Malcolm X" and "He Got Game." This is interesting and something that fans of the two men will enjoy. It is about ten minutes long.
The film’s feature commentary with Lee mostly sees the director talking about the basics of the film from casting to production. There is also a standard “making of” feature that is about 10 minutes and includes interviews with the cast, behind the scenes production work, and a cast read through.
Foster’s character is distracting in the film
Even with its faults, Inside Man is a very enjoyable film, and features good performances from its cast of superstars. Lee moves into the thriller genre easily, but also manages to keep some of the political weight that first got him noticed. I really enjoyed the film and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a good crime thriller. It has an interesting plot, a fast pace, and a great ending.
Inside Man is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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