I have to confess that while I’m a big fan of cop shows just as
much as anybody else (the Law & Order series and COPS are amoung my favorites), I also
love heist movies. I’m fascinated with watching criminals puzzle over how
they’re going to pull off a major job, in such classic heist films as The
Anderson Tapes, The Brinks Job (which was based on a real life case), or the
recent Criminal. And so when I heard that none other than Spike Lee directed a
heist movie involving "the perfect bank robbery", I was more than interested in
giving it a shot. Certainly, the opening sequence, with Clive Owen speaking
directly at the camera with a self-assured coolness about how he pulled off the
job, grabs the viewer by the lapels and pulls them right into the story.
Denzel Washington (starring in his fourth Lee-directed film) stars as Keith
Frazier, an NYPD Detective who’s having some trouble with the Internal Affairs
Bureau breathing down his neck, thanks to accusations made by a drug dealer.
When a crew of armed robbers take hostages at a bank, and with the regular
hostage negotiator on vacation, Frazier’s captain gives him the assignment.
Yet it becomes clear that the bank robbers, led by Dalton Russell (Clive Owen)
know what they’re doing. After expertly taking control of the bank, the robbers
make the hostages remove their clothing and put on hooded overalls with masks
that are similar to what the robbers are wearing.
Even when Frazier gets caught up to speed and starts planning his strategy, the
opposing team throws him a curve ball. The robbers are extremely reluctant to
speak face to face with Frazier at first. Instead they engage in diversionary
tactics that send the police on several wild goose chases. And as if this wasn’t
enough, Frazier also has to deal with Madeleine White (Jodie Foster) a
high-powered negotiator with connections at City Hall who’s working for a very
special client. In Lee’s capable hands, Inside Man is an enthralling thriller
that riveting from the very first frame. It’s an intelligently handled,
engrossing battle of wits between Frazier and Russell, as they each try to
out-psyche each other with every move they make.
Washington is electric as Frazier, a veteran cop who’s not above doing whatever
it takes to save his own skin. Owen is also superb as the unnaturally calm and
calculating Russell. Foster is appropriately icy as her manipulative White
character side-winds her way through one back room deal after the other. The
supporting cast is also very solid, featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Frazier’s
partner; Willem Dafoe as the police ESU commander, and the incomparable
Christopher Plummer as the bank president. The DVD special features include a
‘making of’ featurette, plus a second Featurette: "Number 4" where Lee and
Washington discuss their long-time collaboration. There’s also over twenty five
minutes of outtakes, and a commentary by Lee that’s pretty entertaining (such as
the moment when he advises that, if you ever should meet Christopher Plummer, to
NEVER bring up the Sound Of Music with him). Shot entirely in the city where it
takes place, New York, Inside Man is a captivating thriller that will please
fans of such classic films as the Taking Of Pelham One, Two, Three, and Dog Day Afternoon.
--SF
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