Inside Man
This fourth Spike Lee/Denzel Washington collaboration in many ways is the most conventional and the one that has the least to do with Spike’s own voice — he’s operating off a thriller script he did not create — but there are still signs that “Inside Man” is still a Spike Lee Joint.
There’s the signature shot of a protagonist moving down the street on a rolling cart instead of walking, an off-hand discussion of the damage done by videogames that glamorize the gangsta lifestyle and, as always, a lot of Spike’s signature camera work and camera shots. For big Spike Lee fans, this might not be as much Spike as they want, but the film is still definitely worth watching.
It’s a smart thriller, not so much a “whodunnit” as a “what, exactly, did they do?” Clive Owen appears at the very beginning of the film, laying out what’s happened in the film, with an implicit challenge to the viewers to figure out exactly what they’re about to see. The bank robbery that follows is mysterious and more clever than it at first appears to be and the entire affair takes on extra realism thanks to an extremely good cast, including a number of lower-tier character actors putting in solid work, and especially Christopher Plummer and a surprisingly disquieting Jodie Foster, playing against type.
The final resolution doesn’t have quite the emotional pop that may have been intended, but it’s an intellectually satisfying one.
“Inside Man” could have used more of Spike Lee’s signature style to spice things up, but it’s still a very solid little caper movie and well worth seeing for fans of such films or Spike Lee Joints.
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I loved this movie! I agree that it did not have as much of the Spike Lee ‘flava’ as his previous films, but I loved it nonetheless. Maybe it is because he is my favorite director? But even if he weren’t, I would still love this movie.
Comment by Kirshan — August 17, 2006 @ 13:22
Loved this movie, too. For a long time, my favorite Spike Lee film was “Clockers,” yet another movie he did not write himself. Most hard core Spike fans couldn’t understand why I would pick that over any of his other movies and I would contend that just because he didn’t write the thing doesn’t mean it’s not a Spike Lee movie. The director of a film has the loudest voice and it shines through if they’ve done a good job. (I’ve since seen “Malcolm X” and thing it’s his finest movie ever.)
“Inside Man” really got me thinking. The surprise was a surprise to me. I went into the movie knowing little other than Denzel and Spike were involved, which I think helped my enjoyment of the film. I’d say the weakest link in this movie is Jodie Foster, while Christopher Plummer called in the surprise performance of the film. Really engagaing.
Man, I love Spike’s films. I love how every character is so real — showing all their flaws right there on their sleeve.
Comment by Jonah Weiland — August 19, 2006 @ 13:33