A popcorn and thinking-cap night out...

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2007)

Other reviews have done the plot outline, which is not easy without including spoilers. So I'll take that as read ...
Despite the few (but important) questions 'Inside Man' leaves unanswered (particularly concerning Christopher Plummer's backstory and motivation in keeping a certain crucial article - and Owen's apparently intimate acquaintance with both!), the political issues it unnecessarily raises (the birth of black gun crime; the vulnerability of ethnic profiling to prejudice etc.), the occasional straining at the leash of credibility, a couple of short dips in the tension, and the seemingly obligatory foul language (but hey, you're not a grown-up if you can't say f**k, are you?), this is a very intelligent, pacey, stylish and tense heist movie; the best I've seen for a long time.
I can't understand why the distributors (or whoever) put their product out of reach of a large potential audience by not moderating the language to some extent (and does Jodie Foster have it written into her contract that, in her films, the C word must be used?). But I guess they know what they're doing? I wouldn't take a younger teenager to see it for that reason. But then, they probably wouldn't take me either!
Whilst it is plot driven - and that, extremely convoluted and fast-moving, with flash-backs, flash-forwards and cutaway scenes - performances from the 'bums on seats' brigade (Washington, Owen, Foster, Plummer, Dafoe etc.) range from good to excellent. Washington, particularly, is in the zone and it doesn't hinder him that he has such good words to work with. But I was also extremely impressed by the acting of the lesser lights; some of the turns of the hostages were brilliant ...
I can't think that, unless you're a super-bright fan of the genre (I score one out of two there!), you would pick up on every detail the first time round: my third viewing revealed stuff I'd previously missed evoking a satisfied 'Ahhh!' (but also raised other inconsistencies I'd not noticed before). That being the case, some of the other reviews don't quite gel with my view of things, particularly that the plan went out of control. It didn't. Owen, the mastermind, certainly had to make the occasional adjustment but in answer to his open question to the hostages 'Is there anyone else here cleverer than me?!' the answer has to be a smug 'No!' - though his ego did nearly get him into trouble once or twice.
Except for the above reservations, I rate this as way above average for the genre from the first terrific title and music sequence to the final, er, terrific title and music sequence.