Inside Man
Directed by Spike Lee
Written by Russell Gerwirtz
Rated R: for language and some violent images
“Inside Man” is director Spike Lee’s (“25th Hour”, “He Got Game,” “Do the Right Thing”) first foray in to mainstream cinema, and the result is a pleasing, smart entertainment.
Part heist movie, part morality tale, and altogether clever as hell, “Inside Man” begins as Dalton Russell (played with steely coolness by Clive Owen, who is better suited for this kind of film as opposed to last year’s laughably bad “Derailed”) talks to the camera explaining how he has planned the perfect bank robbery.
From then on, the movie is set in motion as people in jump suits take over a bank for what appears to be a heist. The most exciting thing about “Inside Man” is that it never falls under the typical heist-movie clichés, leaving the audience guessing on where it is going up until the logical finale.
Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington, playing another cop character with well-dressed swagger) is called on to the scene as the robbery turns in to a hostage situation. The rest of the movie is a cat-and-mouse game between Russell and Frazier as the police try to figure out what is going on inside the bank.
Are the robbers simply stealing money or are they looking for something more valuable or perhaps more secretive? I won’t ruin the surprise for you as the fun in the movie is putting the pieces together yourself.
Jodie Foster does great work in a small, but vital role to the film. She plays a power broker who is protecting the interests of the bank’s owner (the perfectly cast Christopher Plummer) as the hostage situation unfolds.
“Inside Man” works mainly because of Lee’s smart direction, Russell Gewirtz’s ingenious script (his motion picture debut), and the well-rounded cast. Even Washington, who seems to play cops in almost every movie he makes, creates a character in the film that is somehow different, and more vulnerable than anything he’s played before.
My favorite Spike Lee film (or joint, as he calls them in the credits) would have to be “25th Hour” starring Edward Norton because of its telling of a simple story that is wrapped around a lot of interesting characters set against a post-9/11 New York.
“Inside Man” is filled with similar Lee issues and camera work; although the racial issues that he usually slams the audience over the head with are dealt with more realism and subtlety here. Lee even takes jabs at violent games and rapper 50 Cent, and shows the influence they both have on children.
Even the title of the film has multiple meanings which become clear by the end of the film, and the plot’s payoff is more than satisfying.
Thank you Spike Lee for making a heist movie different than rest of them, because we need more originality at the multiplex that is entertaining yet still smart.
HDFEST grading scale
-Inside Man-
Story B
Acting A-
Visuals B+
Originality B
Enjoyability A-
Overall Grade B+
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