Slick and sassy but unsatisfying

Rating: 6/10 (2 April 2006)

Despite a lot of clever dialogue and some excellent performances this latest Spike Lee effort is unsatisfying. The complicated plot ultimately doesn't hold together. But the movie has a great New York feel and when it is funny it is very funny--as when a local citizen is asked to aid the police and shows up at the scene of the emergency with a paper bag full of old parking tickets she wants fixed.
Lee and his scriptwriter think that corruption is everywhere and that the rich and powerful can always get anything they want, so they don't find it necessary for their story to make sense; it is enough to say: "See, this is a corrupt plot by a rich man. See how evil they are?" Denzel Washington is fun to watch, as is Kim Director, in a minor role.