disappointing entry by Lee

Rating: 5/10 (4 May 2006)

Spike Lee's "Inside Man" is probably the most commercially viable and least cutting-edge film the maverick director has ever made. I wouldn't exactly call it a sellout - Lee is as entitled as anyone else to make money off his projects - but it is a bit disheartening seeing Lee aiming his sights and his estimable talents as low as he has here.
"Inside Man" starts out like a dozen other bank robbery tales, with a gang of masked gunmen storming into the establishment and turning the terrified customers and employees into ready-made hostages, then hunkering down for a prolonged standoff with the law enforcement officials outside. Denzel Washington plays the hostage negotiator whose job it is to bring the perpetrators to justice with a minimal loss of innocent life.
The movie deserves credit for bringing a few novel twists to the storyline, but, frankly, most of what happens in this film simply defies credibility. We don't believe for a moment the goings-on here. Despite a "surprise" ending and a plethora of Lee's trademark cinematic flourishes, we leave the movie shrugging our shoulders uttering, "Is that all there is?" Washington does the best he can with a halfheartedly written character, but Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe and the ubiquitous Christopher Plummer aren't given much to do in their various roles. Only Jodie Foster - playing a ruthless real estate agent inexplicably brought in to assist in the case - seems to be having any fun at all with the film. She brings a much needed note of high-spirited camp to a movie that really doesn't seem to know what it wants to be.
"Dog Day Afternoon" this ain't.