Spike Really Missed the Boat Here...

Rating: 4/10 (14 August 2007)

INSIDE MAN is a convoluted and confusing crime drama that offers way too many questions and not enough answers. I've always considered Spike Lee a hit and miss director and this one was a big miss for me. This confusing and emotionally manipulative drama follows what appears to be a bank robbery that turns into a hostage situation except that the hostages don't seem to be the #1 priority of anyone outside this bank. Denzel Washington, in his fourth outing with director Lee, delivers one of his most unconvincing performances as Detective Keith Frazier, a badly dressed hostage negotiator who seems more worried about some pending charges from IAB regarding a prior case than he is about these hostages. Christopher Plummer plays the President of the Board of Directors of the bank whose only concern seems to be a safe deposit box inside the bank that he doesn't want anyone to know about and he dispatches Jodie Foster to get it out of the bank before the robbers find it. There's just way too much that's left unexplained here...its never really made clear who Jodie Foster's character works for and she also seems to have her own agenda which has nothing to do with the hostages. Basically, what Lee has given us here is a hostage drama where no one seems to care about the hostages. Washington comes off as forced but Clive Owen, who plays the mastermind behind the robbery, comes off as the most likable character in the film. The film also suffers due to overblown direction, a convoluted screenplay, one of the worst musical scores I have ever heard, and an ending that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. A big disappointment from Lee and Washington,who have both done better work.