Spike Lee's INSIDE MAN doesn't disappoint

Rating: 8/10 (22 April 2006)

Spike Lee's Inside Man is a smart, well-crafted heist thriller led by two very good performances from Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. This is a very entertaining and clever thriller that just might require a second viewing, just to make sure that I caught everything. The film runs just a little over two hours long, yet it does seem to run about fifteen or twenty minutes longer than it probably should, but it seemed to keep me in the dark and on the edge of my seat for so much of the film just wondering what in the hell was REALLY going on that I can't deny the fact that I was pretty entertained.
I've only seen one other movie directed by Spike Lee; 25th Hour, and looking at this film there certainly are some similarities. I love how Lee shoots his films all over various parts of New York; uptown, downtown, Brooklyn; he really seems to showcase the city quite well, along with the city's diversified ethnicities and races along with it. In Inside Man Lee knows that the audience is paying close attention; trying to figure out how this is all going to end, but he keeps the audience in the dark so well, yet still holding your attention to keep you fascinated and then when you think you've got a handle on what's going on he reveals the truth, and it's usually not quite what you were expecting. This is easily the most entertaining film I've seen so far this year, just passing both V for Vendetta and Thank You for Smoking by a hair.
For the sake of surprise I'm going to try my best to avoid giving away too much of the film's plot or its twists. It's a much more enjoyable film to watch going in not knowing very much about it. The film begins with four people dressed as painters walking into the lobby of the Manhattan Trust Bank disabling the bank's security cameras, drawing guns and threatening to blow anyone's head clean off if they don't get their faces on the floor. The scene is riveting and exciting, the first thirty minutes or so of Inside Man is the initial takeover of the bank, and Clive Owen does a marvelous job at playing a menacing bank robbery that clearly means business; so don't mess with him, just do exactly what he tells you to and you won't get hurt. The ringleader is Dalton Russell (Owen), who hides behind a mask and a pair of black sunglasses for so much of the film I starting thinking to myself, "Man, maybe he could have played V in V for Vendetta?" his character is calm, cool, collective, but at the same time completely menacing and calculative. Once the bank is secured by the robbers we're introduced to NYPD hostage negotiators Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) and Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who get handed the case and arrive at the bank quickly to work along side E.S.U. (Emergency Services Unit) Captain John Darius (played well by Willem Dafoe). They all hope to get the situation revolved peacefully and quickly.
The police do what they can to keep the robbers happy, and the hostages safe; they send in bottles of water and plenty of pizzas, they think they've got'em doing exactly what they want, but these aren't your ordinary bank robbers. This robbery has been meticulously and thoroughly planned out, down to the tinniest of details, and the robbers have got the police doing exactly what they want them to do; it's a fun, but equally complex game of cat-and-mouse, and we're not quite sure whose the cat and whose the mouse. The game rambles on and on, throughout the night and into the next day, and it looks like one thing is for certain; these criminals are in absolutely no hurry to escape, but why?
Inside Man is a complex, entertaining and very well-acted heist flick, easily the best I've seen since Ocean's Eleven, and it's certainly been one of the most enjoyable rides of 2006 so far. It's refreshing to see something so well done, with so many good actors, and leaves you feeling satisfied. I recommend you check out Inside Man if you're looking for a thriller with as much brains and it does twists and some good performances from Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, and also need further proof that Jodie Foster can play more than just a desperate mother. Inside Man is actually worth the full seven bucks, which is amazing! Now I wonder to myself; could I pull something like that off?