MOVIE REVIEW: Inside Man 2006A New York city bank is under siege by a mastermind named Russell Dalton (Clive Owen) and his gang. They gained entry into the bank by wearing painter's coveralls. The gang has taken the bank's employees and customers hostage and have warned police to stay back or else people will die. They force the hostages to strip down to their underwear and gives each of them a pair of the same coveralls they are wearing. Detectives Keith Frazier (Denzel *Muthafu$#@* Washington) and Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) are dispatched to the scene. One by one hostages are released. We soon learn that money is not the motive for this robbery. There is obviously something else inside the bank that is worth more to the gang. The situation gets more complicated when the chairman of the bank, Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer), is alerted of the situation. Mr.Case has something tucked away in a safety deposit box that he does not want anyone to discover. He contacts Madeline White (Jodie Foster) to help him retrieve the secret items from the robbers. Madeline is paid to go into the bank and negotiate with the robbers. Madeline also discovers a dark cloud hanging over Detective Frazier's head that she attempts to use to manipulate him as well. Once all the players are in place, it is up to Detective Frazier to put all the pieces together. No more spoilers from me y'all.
This was an interesting departure from Spike Lee's original film style. I commend him for going out on a limb. For the most part, this film was great. You have to pay close attention to this in order to "get it". Part of it still confuses me. This is a more sophisticated robbery film than the standard "shoot em up". The characters were complex and well executed. Denzel is always great, he has yet to do a bad job in a film, even if the subject matter isn't up to par. Jodie Foster blew me away, she was cold as ice and very sexy in this film. I'm not used to seeing her play this type of character but she aced it! Clive Owen was also a delight as the arrogant Dalton Russell, he's another actor that I expect to do great things in the future. There were many plot twists and never any dull moments. Spike threw in many personal touches that he uses in most of his films such as the moving sidewalk. He also included his usual racial overtones in the film and touched on some post-911 topics. This probably had to be the most non-violent bank heist film I've ever seen but it is heavy on the foul language.
VERDICT: 3 Soul Claps
Labels: Movie Reviews
This entry was posted
on Thursday, December 21, 2006 at 5:23 PM.
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