Inside Man Review
by [email protected] (dnb AT dca DOT net)April 6th, 2006
INSIDE MAN
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2006 David N. Butterworth
**1/2 (out of ****)
So what's the inside dope on "Inside Man"?
Is it dopey? Well yes, at times, but not all the time. Are stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster all good in it? Of course. Does it hold your attention from the very first frame to the last? Well, I admit to *seeing* the frames in question.
So is it a perfect "perfect heist" flick? Perfectly not.
As enjoyable a hostage drama as "Inside Man" is, director Spike Lee ("She Hate Me," "25th Hour," and umpteen others) missteps more often than a man of his credentials should and you exit the theater with more questions than answers bouncing around in your cranium (questions which shall not be reiterated herein lest they spoil the film for those who are yet to see it).
What I will say is that, for starters, first-time screenwriter Russell Gewirtz seems a little too unsure as to our bankrobber/hostage takers' ultimate score, since more than one prize is presented, then passed on. Secondly, we don't really need Owen addressing the camera in the opening and closing reels, do we? Third: Terence Blanchard's bombastic score. At times it sounded like I was in a James Bond movie-- horns, guitar riffs, and loud action motifs when what's on the screen is Owen standing all masculine-like afront several mile-high stacks of unmarked bills. Now that's an inappropriate use of background music. Fourth--and I'll spare you the counting from hereon out--the film just doesn't feel tight enough, the payoff not big enough.
I've seen sub-par episodes of both "Mission: Impossible" and "Banacek" that seemed, well, cleverer.
Last but by no means least the muted, interspersed black-and-white sequences of Washington's hostage negotiator Detective Keith Frazier ("with a zee") and partner Detective Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor, the Nigerian cabbie/hotel desk clerk in "Dirty Pretty Things") interviewing bank employees throws any chance of suspense right out the window, since we know all of these people somehow escaped by virtue of the fact that Frazier and Mitchell are talking to them.
But "Closer"'s Owen does a decent job as the "criminal mastermind," especially given that his face is mostly obscured by sunglasses and a cowl. And Washington is great, as always, and works well with Ejiofor (who's also rock solid, market wise). Washington's harried mediator shows a little vulnerability too, which is nice. I'd have liked to have seen more interaction between Frazier and his wife (played by a sexy Cassandra Freeman). Jodie Foster? Well, her role is a little bit different as well but she nails it: high-class, brittle and no nonsense-y, that's her Madeline White, an investigator/consultant brought in by the mayor to outmuscle the musclemen. Willem Dafoe, alas, is wasted as a generic New York City cop and Christopher Plummer's modus operandi is telegraphed from his opening scene. Next time, Spike, make Washington (or Foster) the bad guy, OK?
So that's the 'rap on "Inside Man." This latest "Spike Lee Joint" is well-acted, occasionally tense, and intriguing at times but mostly pat and predictable "NYPD Blue" screen stuff. It's certainly not the dullest heist film of the new millennia but I'd be remiss for not mentioning that I've seen better looking capers on a three-day-old bagel.
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David N. Butterworth
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