Mainstream Triumph for Lee

Rating: Null/10 (29 March 2006)

Excellent. At long last an intelligent caper movie with a genuine sense of mystery and characters you can give damn about.
This is Spike Lee's most mainstream film to date, but, thankfully, it is one in which his passion for personal politics  for the personal and cultural dynamic of urban identity  is not ignored or sidelined. The issue of personal responsibility (or perhaps culpability might be a more appropriate term) is, as ever, right at the heart of the film.
Denzel Washington is splendidly cast as the hostage-negotiator detective caught between the respective machinations of the city's hierarchy, as they protect the interests of a notable citizen, and the enigmatic hostage takers in a Manhattan bank. There are certain aspects of the plot  the nature of the secret Christopher Plummer's aged banker wishes to conceal, amongst them  which are a little too well-telegraphed, but there are enough surprises to keep even the most die-hard aficionado of the caper-genre puzzling over the plot until the last few minutes.
There are a few too many zoom-to-camera character shots  which seem out of place  but the rest of the film is so consistently good these are easily forgiven.
Clive Owen redeems himself after the atrocious 'Derailed', and Jodie Foster is highly effective in her most unsympathetic role to-date, as the high-class 'fixer' brought in by Plummer to protect his interests (memorably congratulated by the Mayor of New York for being a "magnificent c***"). Chewetal Ejiofor and Willem Dafoe provide excellent support for the always-watchable Washingtonwho steals the film. That said, like all good caper flicks, it's an ensemble piece.
Music also enhances proceedings, with a score by Terry Blanchard which - though it sounds like every other score by John Barry  enhances the old fashioned sense of cinematic drama which permeates this movie.