A safe bet for any fan of the genre or cast

Rating: 8/10 (21 April 2006)

I think Inside Man hit all the right notes. It's essentially a standard hostage situation thriller, but just really well done. There are a couple surprises in the plot department, but it's nothing too absurd. As Jodie Foster's character jokes, there aren't really nuclear missile launch codes sitting in one of the bank safety deposit boxes.
The film opens the same way I think the trailer did. Clive Owen stares rather intensely into the camera and gets our full attention. He's becoming one of my favorite actors. But he and a few others stage what is to be the perfect bank robbery. He has a plan for everything. What he doesn't expect is someone as smart as him on the outside. That would be Denzel Washington, who plays a detective arriving on the scene as the lead hostage negotiator. I believe I heard that Washington put on weight for the role, to look more like an ordinary guy. He wasn't though. Despite facing charges for some missing evidence, he's a rather exceptional detective and is a worthy adversary for Clive Owen's extremely calm bank robber. Jodie Foster enters the picture as well as... well, I have no idea whatsoever what she does. She specializes in protecting people's interests I guess. This would include the owner of the bank under siege (Christopher Plummer), who has something inside that he doesn't want the thieves to stumble upon.
I love the cast. In addition to who I already mentioned, you have Willem Dafoe as the head of the SWAT team and Chiwetel Ejiofor (who I'll always know as the operative from Serenity) as Washington's fellow detective. And despite how annoyed I am with Spike Lee over that ridiculous Spike TV situation, he's crafted quite a good film here. The movie is quite clever, but it never goes over the top, and it doesn't dance around with pride over how clever it is. There's a genuine sense of realism pumped into every scene, and I think that's the director's most prominent signature here. Nothing truly great or groundbreaking going on with the film, but it's a safe bet if you want an enjoyable film, and I especially enjoyed the performances of all 6 leads.