bob on!

Rating: 9/10 (21 March 2006)

Well, as is always the case when I wanna see something for quite a while, I anticipated that it may be a bit of a let down. Dint take long into the film to realise that that was a stupid thing to do, Spike Lee wouldn't let me down. This film was an absolute breath of fresh air. Had both the slick and well thought out characteristics of most heist movies but with the personal touches of a vintage Spike Lee film. This gives a fairly recognisable situation within Hollywood films but with real character and feeling. All the characters were interesting and individual; from the leading roles down to the characters there for only one scene. The ability to use say Jodi Foster's star persona of the "tough, independent woman" kind of role and turn that to the "tough, independent 'heartless, stone faced' woman" kind of a role is an example of the touches of character that give this film its energy. Its mild social commentary (The racist NYPD and elements of corruption in the city to give just two examples) was evident enough to make a point but not too much to seem like it was preaching. This is usually the best way to get this kind of message to the people that need to hear it. I would have given my rating between 8 and 9 to be fair but given nothing in between to choose I believed it deserved the benefit of the doubt to be rounded up rather than down. For me, this further strengthens the view that Spike Lee is not only talented enough but diverse enough to be one of the great directors.