Spike Lee goes to Hollywood, but takes his touch and his ideas with him.

Rating: 7/10 (12 May 2008)

It appears that Spike Lee can do conventional; he can do genre and he can do generic. But to call Inside Man conventional, generic and by the book I feel would be a little harsh because it's actually a thoroughly entertaining and somewhat engrossing film about a heist (heist being the genre) and the actions and reactions that will shape the outcome of the heist.
This is Spike Lee for the most restless of crowds: big name actors like Denzel Washington; Clive Owen; Jodie Foster and Willem Dafoe; sequences drawn out in suspense and intrigue as hostages threaten to out smart their captors and enough fast cuts and scenes of fast talking dialogue that furthers the plot and makes the film the fun ride it is. From what it sounds, Inside Man seems like a film that could've been directed by anybody  indeed, Ron Howard was going to direct this initially but Lee stepped in when Howard took up another project; I think both directors are very different to one another in terms of their approaches to film so for a film to be scraped by Howard, taken up by Lee and STILL to turn out to be pretty darn good just goes to show you.
But underneath Inside Man's supposedly generic surface lies certain 'Lee' touches I've come to notice in each of his films. I wonder how different the script was after Lee stepped in; my guess is it changed, centrefold. The character's in Howard's film might all have been white but Lee has African-Americans; Jews; Chinese people and even a Sikh in his film, indeed all four of these ethnic backgrounds are hostages at one point, are let out at another point and then interrogated. The film has its Sikh character independent and strongly willed. He is agitated that the police forced him to remove his headwear and does not cooperate thus giving the police a hard time. I wonder how the scene would've panned out had another director that doesn't take time to acknowledge and respect ethnicity in films  perhaps the same, perhaps differently in a disrespectful way, perhaps there wouldn't even have been a Sikh there in the first place: we'll never know.
But this is one of quite a few clever things Inside Man has going for it. This is Spike Lee doing action, this is Spike Lee going all 'Hollywood' on us but in a good fashion because he brings his touch to the picture and he brings his ideas and content to a genre film. There are numerous references to previous American films that have stood the test of time in the majority's eyes: The Godfather and Dog Day Afternoon; there is even a brief reference to the third Die Hard film that anybody who has seen it more than once will immediately pick up on; I read after seeing Inside Man Spike Lee had no intention of the reference, but there you go. However, it is a single quote that backs up my theory that the screenplay and script may have been changed once Lee came onboard and that is when one man states "Anybody who has seen decent (Hollywood) action film knows what an AK-47 looks like". I feel this is Lee almost announcing 'Yeah, OK; I'm going against directorial type here but you know what? I'm going to show you anyway by making this film in the action genre'.
This repetition and use of reference to older, more recognised American films made by white Americans at the time could well be a personal commentary by Lee on how so few black directors make truly recognisable films. Indeed, when the character that states the Ak47 quote comes so close to being self-aware in the film, it is Spike Lee recognising formula and typical props used in these formulas. Spike Lee tells us he recognises the typical gun in the typical action film but deliberately keeps it in because he knows that's what people want in the genre  familiarity and formula, two words you would never usually associate with Lee. This also tells us that just because he makes Inside Man, he will not buckle under the temptation to go 'formulaic' on us in the future after his career of 'un-formulaic' films.
Spike Lee also finds space to toy with formula. To begin the film with a monologue told by the antagonist of the tale is a twisted method of story telling in itself. Suddenly, the story is being told orally from the bad guy's point of view and in the past tense  that can't be usual. Lee also echoes some of his earlier work, namely Clockers which dealt with 'black on black' crime. The black son of a seemingly upstanding black man plays a video game that even the antagonist played by Clive Owen labels 'sick' since it is all about black characters killing other black characters. What's even eerier is that it is a young black boy who's playing it. This may well be an even more in depth response to computer game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; released two years previously to Inside Man and a game loosely about African-Americans killing one another.
But as a film, Inside Man works a treat. There are too many scenes in which the police and the bank robbers talk to one another face to face for my liking and that cannot be attributed to the breaking away of conventions because it doesn't need to even happen. However, with twits and turns as well as an enjoyable approach, the film holds up as a piece of entertainment; holding your attention close to throughout.