a worthwhile crime film with an interesting plot, good music, and great acting

Rating: 9/10 (26 July 2006)

Spike Lee's 'Inside Man' has a very recycled theme, the bank robbery. But this particular bank robbery film is much different, because it manages to keep you interested for every minute, with the 3 main stars, Clive Owen in particular, giving wonderful performances. The music is the classic good guy versus bad guy type, and even though it seems corny, you'll like it. With a stellar director, excellent writing, and a star studded cast including Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster and Oscar nominee Clive Owen, Inside Man, as of this writing, is the best crime film of the year.
Dalton Russell (Owen) believes he's planned the perfect bank robbery, as he tells us in the opening scene of the film. I won't tell you exactly how he's done this, because that ruins the surprise of how well organized the heist is. Keith Frazier (Washington), a troubled NYPD detective, says otherwise. Meanwhile, the bank's owner (Christopher Plummer) believes that one of his most sacred possessions is in danger, so he taps the help of Madeline White (Foster), a smooth and persuasive business woman who seems to have a certain dark mystery about her...
First off, the shows the 3 main stars put on is fabulous, with Clive Owen leading the pack, followed by Jodie Foster, then Washington. Owen delivers an Oscar worthy performance as the mastermind of the heist, because even though his face is sealed for a good part of the film, he delivers each line with a quiet voice, yet a voice that says, 'I'm in charge, and if you get in my way, I will crush you'. He is in control the whole film, making you wonder what he'll do next. This is the best villainous performance in a non-fantasy film I've seen recently. One cannot help but be in awe of Jodie Foster in this film, because while Clive Owen has control of everything inside, she seems to have control of everything else with her smooth words and seemingly effortless charisma. It is easy to see why her character is such a mysterious character, even more mysterious than the villain of the film. Denzel Washington has not delivered a bad movie since 1995, and the streak doesn't end here. As the star of the film, he does command the screen just as you expect him to do. It's a different turn for Denzel, as we're used to seeing him play strong willed characters with a seemingly unbeatable attitude. Washington does a great job playing a character that is flawed, apprehensive, and well...human. Also in the film are Christopher Plummer, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Washington's partner, and Willem Dafoe as a police captain. All three deliver strong performances, but none of an overwhelming amount of screen time, so it doesn't particularly matter.
Spike Lee is a great director who's given us a ton of great films for the ages (not to mention classic moments at New York Knicks games), and Inside Man is no different. He captures the mystery of the story extremely well, but he also maintains a certain 'cool factor' by throwing in really clever lines and funny situations that keep the film from becoming too serious. I loved the writing here as well, as it'll keep you guessing until the end of the film. It's got one of those endings that you'll either love or hate, sort of how 2004's Collateral made you feel (for the record, the endings of the two movies are NOT similar, I'm just describing the feeling). When all is said and done, 'Inside Man' deserves to go down as one of the best crime films of recent memory. I enjoyed it a lot, and I hope you do too.
9/10 --spy