not your average Spike Lee outing

Rating: 7/10 (21 September 2006)

"Inside Man" proves once again that Spike Lee has decided to expand his repertoire. It's a big, glossy-looking, Hollywood heist drama complete with all of the standard beats of others in the genre.
What really sets this piece apart is the knockout job of Denzel Washington as the hostage negotiator who is starting to recover from a marred reputation. He's fully in charge of this film to the point that he doesn't even need a character arc to maintain the audience's engagement. We just enjoy watching him work, because he makes it look so damn easy! Jodie Foster turns in an exceedingly enthusiastic performance spent spouting some of the strongest dialogue in the film.
Although certain aspects of it didn't coalesce, the parallel storyline that dealt with what exactly was being stolen did bring up some intriguing, if out of place, subject matter that fits far better with most of Lee's resume than the remainder of the film.