good but not great

Rating: 7/10 (2 June 2006)

...Good but not great...main thought..as often these days,i wish i was an editor ..it's just too long..."hellaccious cast" right enough ..but there's enough material here for a tight ,hour long "Hustle" type T.V. outing...and /or a superior post 9/11 "NYPDBlue" type series...granted it might have to be Dennis Haysbert, not DenZEL..and Marg Helgenberger,not Jody Foster...but so it goes. Spike Lee was at pains to point out the homage to "Dog Day Afternoon" and in case any slow-witted film fan misses it "Dog Day.." is name-checked along with "Serpico" and "Kojak" ...the film that i had in mind most though
was "Quick Change" the great Bill Murray comedy where he pulls a bank heist dressed as a clown( a central idea from which is employed here).
Best aspect of "The Inside Man" is the great dialogue,laced liberally with the sort of gallows humour that Denis Leary's T.V. show "Rescue Me" employs so well..along with judicious use of location, this is where the authentic "post 9/11" feel plays it's part.
The big "political/race" bit is Christopher Plummer's dark secret ...and that really is the whole point and conclusion of the film...but it keeps rolling and leaves things so open ended in the last scene that you almost expect "to be continued" to flash up...The film about the Levees being blasted...now that i want to see...
Chris Morrell