Weak Ending

Rating: 6/10 (21 August 2006)

People dressed as painters take over a bank and hold hostages. The police cannot figure out why it's taking so long for them to rob the bank and try to escape. Detective Frazier (Washington) believes there is more going on than a simple bank robbery.
This is a slow movie, but it holds your interest because you and the police and the hostages have no idea what is going on. You are led to believe a bank robbery is taking place because that is what it looks like so you go with it. The police and you savor every clue and the director, Spike Lee, throws you off guard often by letting you think some of his turns have something to do with what is actually going on.
The acting by all is first class and the story would have had more of an impact had the ending to this robbery made sense. Maybe I just didn't get it. At least I wasn't stressed out because there was no suspense or tension. My interest was held, but I wasn't on the edge of my chair. After you find out what the real purpose of the "robbery" is, you begin to question yourself as to why you sat there for 128 minutes. I sat there for this? For this? No, someone made a mistake. Not for this! See what I mean? That is where I was at the end of this movie. I was in that same place when I watched END GAME with Cuba Gooding Jr. Again, everything was fine until the weak ending came around.