Inside Man

Rating: 8/10 (5 December 2006)

I guess it hasn't been easy for director Spike Lee to get "Inside Man" as good as he did (with large contributions by screenwriter Russell Gewirtz). If you plan to make a movie about a bank robbery these days, you better bring up some really good ideas. But after all, there is still a bitter taste about a heist film, because it's so hackneyed. However, after the miracle that "25th Hour" is, I put my trust in Spike Lee and he didn't disappoint me. There is no big introduction, the movie gets going fast and it keeps going. It features lots of interesting twists and you constantly wonder what the hell is going on. You have an idea that the burglar mastermind (very good performance by Clive Owen) is cleverer than you can imagine, but it's just at the end you realized how perfectly planned everything was. Great acting is also contributed by Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer and the rest of the cast, while Plummer's Nazi storyline is really extraordinary.