The perfect heist. But the perfect heist movie?

Rating: 7/10 (19 October 2006)

I've read a few reviews and general opinions on Inside Man, and it would appear that most people don't get the film, or at least they don't get it the way I did. The general consensus seems to be that Spike Lee has crafted an entertaining but flawed heist movie. But to me, that's all wrong. Spike Lee, to my eyes, has thrown the usual concept of building up detailed backgrounds on both the cops and the robbers, and instead has written an essay on the perfect bank robbery.
The movie opens with Clive Owen's Dalton Russell giving a soliloquy from what appears to be a very small room. But as we find out, "there is a vast difference from being stuck in a tiny cell and being in prison." This monologue turns out to be the key to the whole film. Russell tells us that he has, in the events about to fold out on screen, planned and executed the perfect bank robbery. Why? Because he can. "And therein, as the bard tells us, lies the rub." The rest of the film follows both Russell and hostage negotiator Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) as they play in a battle of wits, where the prize is, seemingly, the lives of the hostages. Other characters come into the fray: Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer), the bank owner who's past (most people would have you believe) is integral to the heist; John Darius (Willem Dafoe), in an understated role as the officer in charge of proceedings; and Madeline White (Jodie Foster), an enigmatic business woman who's role is never explained, and doesn't need to be. The robbery itself includes such eccentricities as dressing up all the hostages in the exact same outfits the robbers are wearing (making the planning of a raid later on in the film rather difficult for the police) and broadcasting an Albanian president's public address when the police try to bug the bank.
But all these little details do is disguise the robbery's true purpose: to be the perfect bank robbery. This fact was most evident, for me, in the film's music (by Terence Blanchard). Most of the time it's reminiscent of a Seventies' cop show, orchestral mixed with guitar riffs. But there are times when the music will swell, and the audience is confused as to what the meaning of this is. To my ears, it all became clear when we are shown a shot of Owen standing in the door of one of the bank's vaults. The music swells to almost epic proportions, and we are unconsciously told that there is something more than money going on.
I won't go any further into the inner workings of the film, for fear of spoiling it for you. Safe to say that there are a few more surprises other than the ones listed above, and Spike Lee, it would seem, couldn't help sliding in some social commentary; at one point a Sikh argues with police that he is not an Arab, after they remove his turban for "safety".
The film, of course, is not without its flaws. The ending is a little too drawn out, as it tries to wrap up story arcs that could have been left loose and still given the film a satisfying conclusion. But overall, Inside Man is one of the better heist movies I've seen (not that I've seen a whole lot; they're not really my thing). You might not interpret it as I did, but you'll still have fun.