Kinda Like "Quick Change" W/O the Laughs

Rating: 8/10 (28 March 2006)

Slick heist film with hints of Hitchcock's cat and mouse and Bill Murray's Grimm in "Quick Change" without the laughs. A great film from Spike Lee who keeps the action in front of the camera and the viewer's eyes on the characters faces. Superbyly cast with Denzel, sans strut but jauntily taunting the audience with the deft handling of a hat, the cool Clive Owens who manages to play the heavy without all that rage we've seen so often as to become boring, and as the consummate power brokers a very thin but ever so lovely Jodie Foster and 'when for the love of mike will he stop making movies', Chistopher Plummer.
The word and gun play aren't spectacular but the film keeps you involved in trying to figure out what is going to happen next even though much of the plot is transparent. Spike gets off a few zingers about the police, racism and stereotyping and kid's video games but adds a black perspective in Denzel's professional and personal lives.
Catch this one on the big screen as some of the dark scenes will be lost on your home entertainment center, its a good one.