just a bit too clever

Rating: 5/10 (19 November 2006)

An oddity, this film. It boasts a superb cast and an excellent director, not to mention a wonderful screenplay. Despite, or perhaps because of, this, the film really does not add up to the sum of its parts.
The idea of a "perfect" bank robbery going somewhat awry is hardly new, but the twists as to how and why it goes, in a sense, "wrong", and who causes it to be that way creates a new dimension on the genre and makes it rather attention-grabbing. The multi-perspective approach and the focused sub-plots are also a rejuvenation of the heist movie.
But for all the good points there remains a sense of Inside Man just not being as good as it could have been. There is no area of the film you could say is bad, nor one that you could immediately say is the explanation as to why it all feels rather flat.
Basically, what should be one of the most intelligent films of the year ends up feeling like something ideal to watch on a lazy, rainy Sunday afternoon. I recommend the film for such an occasion, but I somehow doubt that this was the intention of Spike Lee when he made it.
On the Spike scale, better than Clockers (what isn't) but not as accomplished as 25th Hour.