What a sting!

Rating: 8/10 (18 July 2006)

Rooms full of hysterical hostages, red tape and police wrapped around the block, snipers perched on every windowsill, and an escape route that involves a 747. Can this really be the perfect bank robbery? But this is a bank with a secret. And with all the hostages stripped and redressed in exactly the same clothes as the robbers (minus gun-type accessories), soon it is impossible to tell who the bad guys are. Crack police negotiator, Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) heads towards the bank declaring "Bad guys here I come", only he has to wade through quite a few bad guys on the outside first.
The film is called Inside Man, so it is easy to suspect everyone. But those bad robbers are so smart, sensitive and appalled by the violence of video games and the good guys are so honest, hard working and dashing. We are seduced into liking them both and cannot take sides. Fortunately, there is Madeline White (Jodie Foster), who makes a very good living as "an expeditor", ie pay her enough money and she can fix anything. She is a right nasty piece of work - totally amoral and smug about it. Phew, we cannot like her!
The uncomfortably slow siege of the bank does stretch our patience and belief that this will end perfectly. Then in an unpredictable twist, the good guys gain control, the bad guys completely lose it, and everyone else is suitably incompetent. But who are the bad guys again?
No extras on the DVD.