Blakespot reviews: Inside Man

Rating: 7/10 (15 July 2006)

Inside Man, 2006 7/10, 3rd best of 2006, 143rd best of the 2000's, 436th all time That third best is misleading because this was the third movie of 2006 I'd seen. However, last is also misleading because all three were very good movies. Inside Man was directed by Spike Lee. Prior to seeing Inside Man let me give you a list of all the Spike Lee movies I've ever enjoyed watching: 1. Malcolm X 2. hmmm... ummmm... nevermind. So I didn't really have that high of expectations. However, I have to admit that this movie is extremely well made. It's evident from the beginning of the movie. In the first 5 minutes of the movie the camera shot changes every five seconds. Normally this would just annoy me, but the editor managed to do this without wasting a single one of those five second shots, and with great accompanying music it was actually one of my favorite opening sequences ever. While the camera work is great throughout what really makes this movie stand out are the great performances by the two leads. Clive Owen is great as a "not your everyday bankrobber" and Washington is wonderful, somehow giving an incredibly fresh performance in spite of the fact that he's playing a cop for what seams like the 11th time in his past 12 films. Its an interesting story with some decent twists and better than average dialouge. This is just a very good movie with something for almost everybody.