Clever, funny and, original.

Rating: 8/10 (14 April 2006)

From the opening sequence it becomes obvious that this film benefits from superior direction, it reminds me how much this is lacking in many other big releases and hit me like a breath of fresh air. Denzil Washington is a cool hostage negotiator and Clive Owen is doing his very good cool calculating thing as the villain. It is wicked to see William Dafoe and i wish he had more scenes and Jodie Foster appears as well. There is a very well pitched humour about the film which had the audience laughing frequently but without producing an oceans 11/Guy Ritchie sort of predictability that is so common in these kind of films at the moment. Also present is the ubiquitous Lee political comments which some people find annoying but i think he makes valid points and it is another element that elevates this film above the usual releases. All in all this is definitely one of the best films i have seen for many months and i would recommend it highly (i don't normally bother writing comments). It is great to see Owen in this film as he is a fantastic actor and he seems to constantly be appearing in great stuff (sin city and closer for example) and Washinton has long been a favourite of mine.