A rather unusual bank robbery

Rating: 9/10 (20 June 2012)

As the film opens we see a man in what appears to be a cell; explains to us that his name is Dalton Russell and he has just executed the perfect bank robbery. Immediately questions are raised; most importantly being; if it was the perfect robbery why is he in a cell? The action then jumps back to the start of the robbery; a small group of robbers all identically dressed with masks and hoods enter the bank and disable the cameras, chain the doors, toss a few smoke grenades and take the employees and customers hostage. A passing cop notices the smoke and starts to call in that he suspects as robbery is taking place; before he can finish the call an armed man emerges and tells him hostages will start dying if the police attempt to enter the bank. Back inside the robbers confiscate all phones and keys before ordering everybody to undress and change into clothes identical to the ones they are wearing. Inevitably the police turn up in force and set up a command centre; although he is not the senior officer Detective Keith Frazier takes charge as he is the hostage negotiator. He waits for their demands and eventually they receive the cliché demand of buses to the airport and a fuelled jet... a little disappointing perhaps but may be the robbers just want to buy time to do what they really want to do. While Det. Frazer tries to figure out what they really want the bank's owner and founder, Arthur Case, brings in a specialist, Madeleine White, to ensure that whatever happens neither the robbers nor the authorities learn the contents of one safety deposit box inside the vault... the box the robbers when straight to.
Before watching this all I knew about the film was that it was a heist film with 'more twists than a Chubby Checker record'; but as nearly everything has to have a twist these days I thought it would be a typical heist film. Thankfully it was far more interesting than that; I was grabbed in the opening scenes and was constantly wondering just how it would end. While some twists weren't shocking the final, most important one was. The acting from all the leads; Denzel Washington, as Frazer; Clive Owen, as Russell; Jodie Foster, as White and Christopher Plummer as Case put in top notch performances and were able supported by the likes of Willem Defoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The scenes in the bank were not surprisingly the most interesting; seeing how the robbers not only kept the hostages confused but even managed to convince enough of the hostages that they were fellow hostages for it to be impossible for them to be identified when everybody eventually left the building. Director Spike Lee did a fine job keeping the story going and introduced the various twists in ways that didn't seem forced even in the rather amusing situation where detectives discover just who they are listening to on their bugs. If you want a good solid crime thriller with genuinely surprising twists this is well worth checking out.