Inside Man
Directed by: Spike Lee
Starring: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe
Rated: R for language and some violent images.
Parental Notes: This is not a movie for kids. There is plenty of violence and language, not to mention the frightening aspects of the hostage storyline. Moreover, it’s not a movie aimed at youngsters. Teens may enjoy it, particularly if they have a fondness for heist films or are politically savvy.
Spike Lee is not known for making heist movies, or for making formula movies, so it’s no surprise that “Inside Man” is not entirely a typical caper flick. However, it is something of a surprise to watch a well-crafted bank robbery film and realize that it’s a Spike Lee film. There are scenes which are clearly from a Spike Lee film, but they are sprinkled in amongst plenty of straightforward thriller scenes. It’s a peculiar mix.
The plot is intricately crafted. Dalton Russell (Clive Owen, “Sin City”) informs us in a brief monologue at the beginning of the film that he has planned the perfect bank robbery. Owen has nearly mastered an American accent for the part, and he delivers a cold-blooded, highly intelligent performance. It’s a thrill to watch as he and his crew take over a Wall Street bank in standard form: masks, guns, yelling people to get down on the floor. They take everyone inside the bank hostage and begin issuing demands to the cops.
Hostage negotiator Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington, “Man on Fire”) is dispatched promptly to both ensure that all of Russell’s hostages get out safely and to catch Russell and his gang. Frazier thinks the robbery is a straightforward hostage situation, but he soon realizes that Russell has thought of everything. Soon he puts enough pieces together to know that Russell is stalling – but he can’t quite figure out why. Washington handles the ups and downs of the role with panache, and it’s very clear in some scenes that he’s greatly enjoying himself.
Frazier’s work is complicated by the addition of Madeline White (Jodie Foster, “Flightplan”) to the scene. She works for extremely wealthy people as an intermediary of sorts, and has been hired by Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer, “Syriana”), the owner of the bank, to make sure his interests are protected during the robbery. Foster is cool and collected in this oddly inscrutable role, and it’s nice to see her as a quasi antihero for once.
“Inside Man” is the first feature film screenplay from Russell Gewirtz, and it’s a surprisingly good one in spite of the frequent heist movie flaws of implausibility. It’s hard to know how much of the tight pacing, snappy dialog, and political humor is Spike Lee’s and how much is Gewirtz’s, but it’s clear that Lee’s fingerprints are on a quality product. Lee is too much of an auteur to make a film that doesn’t sport his left-wing politics, attention to racial conflict, and tight dialog, but for the most part, “Inside Man” doesn’t feel like a Spike Lee picture.
Sure, there are plenty of moments where racial tension is played up. The hero is an African-American man while all the other main characters are white. One of the first hostages to be sent out by Russell is a Sikh, and he is assaulted by the police surrounding the bank. Those moments, especially the natural dialog that fills them, are Spike Lee through and through.
“Inside Man” is a fairly solid thriller. It’s suspenseful, exciting, and the robbery itself is cleverly plotted. Even better, the thread of mystery that runs through the later parts of the film doesn’t depend on keeping things from the viewer. Clues are dispensed at a steady pace, and once we learn what is really going on it seems like we should have figured it out earlier. Fans of Lee may find his political content too watered down, and fans of heist movies may be annoyed at the digressions, but folks who enjoy the blending of two different genres will doubtless enjoy it.