Great value is placed on reputation.

Rating: 8/10 (26 August 2006)

Spike Lee directs this edge-of-your seat thriller. Clive Owen has had plenty of time to plan and orchestrate the perfect robbery. Owen and his group disguised as painters enter the Manhattan Trust and things border bizarre. Denzel Washington is a NYPD hostage negotiator that is ready to redeem himself by getting some 50 hostages released and disrupt what is looking like anything but a bank robbery. Wealthy banker Christopher Plummer hires a defiant power broker Jodie Foster to intercede the situation with a hidden agenda. Captivating cat-and-mouse standoff between Owen and Washington. Captivating crime drama.
My favorite scene is watching the money take flight as bullets riddle an open safe. The few scenes of Washington with Foster are mood setters. Upon conclusion you realize how damn smart this movie is. Also starring are: Wilem Dafoe, Kim Director, Cassandra Freeman and Peter Gerety.