Mega star power add up to an enjoyable, above-average but not particularly remarkable movie

Rating: Null/10 (23 March 2006)

"Inside man" is the sort of movie that you can't really talk about meaningfully without invoking spoilers of one sort of another. I'll try, but be duly warned.
Right at the beginning, the audience is given a teaser when planner of a "perfect bank robbery" Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) stares you right in the eye and articulates, "Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully and never repeat myself". But he does, repeat himself, at the end of the movie. Well, maybe not technically because it's just running the same monologue, but by that time, it means a lot more. So, do pay attention to what you see and hear, to everything actually, including the title of the movie. It's an interesting guessing game, not particularly brilliant, but interesting nonetheless.
The set up is very well done. Once the robbers get control of the bank and get the 50 hostages to don the outfit and masks they themselves are wearing, things start to get rolling. The arrival of the law enforcers is quite exciting, but almost like a police procedural, including details of how the area is sealed off. All this is exciting because it's done with quick cuttings and an agile camera. But there's also a long, continuous penning single take that follows the three key law men from the police vehicle all the way to the door of the bank  detectives Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) and Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and captain Darius (Willem Defoe). While on the camera, there's also the use of conspicuously differentiated tone and focus to denote a series of scenes taking place in a different time dimension (which the audience should be able to catch on soon enough).
One of the key attractions of this genre is pitching two adversaries against each other. Immediately coming to mind is Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson in "The negotiator". "Inside man" is less intriguing, but with Owen and Washington, you're guaranteed to get the most out of a somewhat standard police-criminal cat-and-mouse game. Added to that are bank chairman (Christopher Plummer) and high-power "fixer" Madeliene White (Jodie Foster) he hires to recover something from a deposit box in the bank currently under the robbers' control. With such a mega-power cast, the permutation of head-on scenes alone is worth the admission: Washington-Foster, Owen-Foster, Foster-Plummer, Washington-Plummer. Poor Defoe, who can carry a movie all by himself, gets only a cliché role and a quick exchange with Washington.
As to the story itself, the way things unfold is on the whole satisfactory, although plot holes are almost inevitable. Loose threads are generally tied together coherently in the end. Not a devilishly clever plot but look at it this way: the fun is not so much in arriving at the destination as in the process of getting there, particularly with some great acting along the way.