Hiest Movie Cum Paranoid Conspiracy Thriller

Rating: 5/10 (15 April 2006)

What on earth has happened to Spike Lee? He livened up the 1980s and 1990s with sharp, sassy films on a wide variety of subjects. Now he's just beginning to look like a bitter has-been with a wide variety of prejudices which he likes to spread to a wider audience.
As a film, there are many enjoyable moments from a stellar cast including the ever-watchable Clive Owen and Denzel Washington. (In my opinion no film with Denzel is ever an entire waste of your hard-earned as the man has such presence and charisma).
However, beyond that the plot start out implausible and descends into the totally unbelievable. It's like a cardboard box left out in the rain - it starts out looking like it's got a structure but after a while it's just a sodden mess. Key protagonists (particularly Owen's character) have no background or apparent motivation.
Overall, a superficially well-made film is let down by flimsy material and lazy direction.