Inside Man

by Joe Barber on Mar.26, 2006, under Joe Barber's Movie Reviews

JOEâ€™S REVIEW: “INSIDE MAN”

At first glance “Inside Man,” the new film from director Spike Lee, seems like just another caper flick. You might woinder what one of the movie industry’s most openly political filmmakers could bring toi what has become a fairly overworked genre. Thanks to a clverly written script by first time screenwriter Russell Gewirtz, Lee gets a chance to stand the the tired formula on its head while delivering an intellegent and entertaining thriller with serious social and political undercurrents.

Two time Oscar winner Denzel Washington, appearing in his fourth film directed by Lee, stars as New York City police detective Kevin Frazier. As the film opens, he’s a man at the crossroads. Though he’s worked hard to move up in the ranks, he’s stuck at a middling rank and his chances for promotion are clouded by a scandal about missing evidence money. His longtime girlfriend is pressing him of a serious committment. He is almost relieved when he and his partner are called to the scene of a major crime.

Down on Wall Street, the day’s peaceful comings and goings have been disrupted by a bank robbery. A small band of robbers have taken fifty employees and customers hostage. At first, they refuse to communicate with anyone. When Frazier and his partner arrive on the scene to negotiate the gang begins a game of cat and mouse with them, demanding food, busess and a plane but staying coy about their plans.

Frazier starts to suspect something is not quite right about the situation. He becomes convinced of it when the mayor shows up to monitor the situation with a mysterious woman (Jodie Foster) in tow. She is a high powered “fixer”, the kind of person who can get people out of-and into-potentially damaging situation. The mayor wants Foster’s Ms. White to monitor Frazier’s negotiations. Who she’s working on behalf of, what the theives are after and how things finally shake out provide a series of head snapping twists and turns that wil leave you rewinding the movie in your head to see if what you thought happened really did.

Lee’s direction keeps the story moving along at a fast pace, but not so fast that you can’t catch some of the clues that are in plain sight if you pay attention. That may be tough, because Lee has loaded the film with talented actors who constantly demand your attention. Washington brings a relaxed intensity to the role of Detective Frazier, utilizing a wide range of emotions and attitudes. Foster brings a kind of edgy, cynical strength to White that make it clear her time away from regulkar screen work doesn’t dull her skills. Owen’scriminal mastermind is a fascinating and complex charachter and Lee gives him plenty of room to develop him. He and Washington have a grand time playing off each other. Solid supporting work is done here by Christopher Plummer and Willem Dafoe.

“Inside Man” stands as an example of the work of a mature director who knows how to entertain his audience while subtly leaving them with food for thought. Gewirtz has packed a numer of surprises and a lot of material in the film and wwhle that makes for a film that could have benifited from abit of trimming, this is a minor flaw. This is a movie to see and savor.

mpaa rating: R for profanity, violence and sexuality.
JOE’S RATING: THREE AND A HALF STARS.