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Inside Man
Directed by: Spike Lee
Starring: Denzel Washington
Genre:
Action/Adventure
Run Time: 129
min.
Release Date:
March 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Is INSIDE MAN
supposed to be a mindlessly stimulating bank heist film? Or a
thought-provoking take on urbanism, race, money, power, and history?
Blending the two would’ve been a spectacular feat, but Inside Man
too often misses the mark or simply stretches credibility to the
breaking point.
The story starts like a basic heist flick but with a few subtle quirks.
Clive Owen stars as bank robber genius Dalton Russell who takes over a
bank in Manhattan, hostages and all. But why he’s there is the big
running question. He makes no move to dash in and out with the money,
and seems content to sit and wait out the police.
Enter Denzel Washington as Junior Detective Keith Frazer. Being a
hostage negotiator, the detective decides to play by the book, waiting
out Dalton’s gang and making false promises of arriving buses and
planes. But Detective Frazer soon realizes that something is amiss.
Dalton is delaying everything, too. And none of the hostages have been
killed, even when deadline demands come and go.
Into the fray comes Christopher Plummer as Arthur Case, the banks
founder. He has secrets in a safety deposit box that he’ll do anything
to keep secret. In rapid (and confusing) fashion, he contacts Madeline
White (Jodie Foster), a woman who has contacts in high places and can
usually get whatever a client wants. Bending the ear of the mayor, Ms.
White gets on the inside with the police and secures a private meeting
with Dalton, who quickly advises her that he’s already opened Mr. Case’s
safety deposit box and retrieved ...
Okay, I’m not going to let the cat out of the bag.
Suffice to say there are good qualities about the film (thus my positive
rating). The acting is spot-on perfect (from Willem Dafoe's grumpy
street cop persona to Clive Owen’s questionable bank robber status).
Filming was exceptional with director Spike Lee incorporating the
darkness inside the bank in contrast to the white masks of the
hostage-takers/robbers (White masks? Hmm. Think he’s trying to tell us
something?)
The movie’s pace was satisfactory, too, though it perhaps got bogged
down in some of the overly-developed plot devices that were extraneous
or outlandish (the cops would NEVER let a citizen — Foster — into the
bank with armed suspects regardless of her contacts).
There are also a lot of irritatingly undeveloped items. Most notably
were Jodi Foster’s character and the basis for Clive Owen’s gang. There
is no history surrounding Foster’s character so we don’t know how she
got started in this business (whatever her "business" was) nor how
Christopher Plummer’s character knows how to get ahold of her. Clive
Owen’s gang must’ve been some sort of modern day Nurembergers, still
tracking down Nazi and Nazi sympathizers, but why and where they came
from remains a mystery throughout.
In recent typical Hollywood fashion, the good guys aren’t so good and
the bad guys are better than all. Christopher Plummer plays the dark
figure we so love to see him play that it is, unfortunately, almost a
cliche. Denzel is the black detective trying to advance his career while
at the same time battling prejudice within his own department (another
cliche?).
Still, it was fun to watch. The fact that there’s really no bloodshed
makes this bank heist film unique by current day standards. Most have
explosions with bodies flying through the air and clip after clip after
clip of ammo being loosed. Not here.
If you’ve got a few hours to kill at home, you might consider plopping
this into your DVD player and checking it out. Just don’t think too hard
about the Inside Man after it’s over.
(back to top) |
Image from Inside Man
DVD cost: $15.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
Two actors from Dog Day
Afternoon (1975) were cast as a homage to that film, with parallels.
"Marcia Jean Kurtz" plays a hostage named Miriam in each film, and
"Lionel Pina" delivers pizza in both.
Movie Quote: "Who
ever heard of bank robbers escaping on a plane with 50 hostages? I think
you're stalling."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Inside Man
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