Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

Inside Man (2006)

Director: Spike Lee

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

At first glance, a bank heist movie seems an odd choice for Spike Lee: there’s never been reason to think the notorious provocateur would be interested in a genre outing. The set-up seems to offer an explanation: four robbers enter a Manhattan bank and instigate a lock-down with military precision, taking hostage several dozen staff and customers. A cross-section of the city in mortal peril in a fortress of capital – what better vessel than this microcosmic pressure cooker for one of Lee’s excavations of racial and economic tensions in contemporary New York? But no. What follows is neither indictment nor satire, but a slick, kinetic and relatively straightforward – which is to say enjoyably twisty-turny – tranche of cat-and-mouse procedural. And given Lee’s decidedly mixed recent output (‘She Hate Me’, ‘25th Hour’), that’s no bad thing.

The face-off is between hostage negotiator Frazier (Denzel Washington, noble as usual but affable and short on pomposity) and unflappable lead robber Dalton (Clive Owen, remarkably compelling given that his motivation and face are concealed for most of the movie). Russell Gewirtz’s screenplay offers no surprises but it’s satisfyingly head-scratchy throughout, from its choppy chronology to the ambiguous roles of supercool fixer Jodie Foster (unusually perky) and bank boss Christopher Plummer (usually reptilian). The narrative ducking and diving leaves room for a few Lee-style asides – a Sikh complains of chronic harassment – but nothing that adds up to a social argument. Like Dalton, Lee executes his mission with aplomb, even if his motivation remains a little less clear.

Author: Ben Walters 2006-03-20 12:07:14

Time Out London Issue 1857: March 22-29 2006

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Inside Man

Watch Trailer 1

Cast & crew

Director: Spike Lee

Producer: Brian Grazer

Cast: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Plummer full cast

Genre(s): Thrillers, Drama

Duration: 129 mins

Related articles


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.