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Movie Review - Inside Man (2006)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Spike Lee |
| Starring: |
Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe, and Jodie Foster |
| Rated: |
R (for language and some violent images) |
| Length: |
129 minutes |
| Genre: |
Drama/Thriller/Mystery |
| Tagline: |
It looked like the perfect bank robbery. But you can't judge a crime by its cover. |
| Studio: |
Universal |
| Website: |
Inside Man |
| Release: |
March 23, 2006 |
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PLOT
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Dalton Russell (Owen) has meticulously crafted the necessary details to pull off the perfect bank robbery. He explains
the who, the what, the when, the where, and the why. But the how? Well, therein, as the bard would tell us, lies
the rub.
So Clive Owen and three buddies don themselves in some snazzy painters' clothes and nifty masks and march into the
busy lobby of Manhattan Trust. Folks, we've got ourselves a heist! The only thing we and the 40 or 50 hostages can
do is watch how it all plays out.
Detective Keith Frazier (Washington) and his partner are dispatched to the scene with orders to establish contact with
Owen. The goal, obviously, is the safe release of the hostages. Owen lets everybody know right away that they are
playing his game and as such will follow his rules. Can this situation be diffused in a peaceful
manner? Or will everything spiral out of control? A rare "better than I expected" heist film ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Show of hands - who here loves heist movies where thieves are doing their very best to pull off the perfect robbery?
Well good news - Inside Man is one of the best of the genre to come along in quite some time.
What I love most about the movie is the air of mystery that surrounds it and its characters for the entire runtime.
Nobody's true motivations are immediately revealed, and it's our job to follow along as everything plays out. And
I recommend that as you follow along you pay careful attention to all the characters from the very beginning.
You could start to get the hostages and bank robbers confused. But let's get back to our mysterious main
characters...
You've got Clive Owen - the calm and collected ringleader who has strategically planned this robbery to
the smallest detail. He really doesn't seem to be that bad of a guy at heart. He doesn't
want to hurt anybody, but he has a job to do and he has to make sure everyone realizes that he's not
messing around. He simply must establish that they're not smarter than he is. Who is he and exactly what is his
motivation?
Then there's Denzel Washington. He's a newly promoted detective whose girlfriend is ready for a ring, but at the
moment he has a few hostages in the bank that concern him. But how innocent is he? He's currently surrounded
by a corruption scandal involving a missing $140,000 and this could play to his disadvantage regardless of whether
he's innocent or not.
And what on earth is up with Jodie Foster and her uppity little self? Ever a total wainch (it's a Southern term
my friends and I invented, you probably get the gist), she is obviously very skilled in hitting guys where it
hurts, and no, I don't mean the pocketbook. She's a mysterious power broker who knows how to keep her "clients"
happy.
Her most recent client is Christopher Plummer who just so happens to own the bank that is being robbed. He is really
interested in only one thing - the contents of a particular safety deposit box. He wants Jodie to retrieve these
contents or make sure they're destroyed. What exactly is he trying to hide?
Don't go into the movie looking for a rapid fire action thriller. Inside Man's pace is more deliberate,
allowing for gradual character and story development. That's a hard thing to find in a two hour movie these days,
but here's an example of how to pull it off. The dialogue is smart and funny, the characters demonstrate
believable chemistry, and the script is cleverly written. There may not be any plot twists of Sixth Sense
proportions, but it keeps you guessing and manages to serve up a couple of surprises along the way.
To say any more would be a risk of revealing too much, so just go enjoy the movie. But you need to be
prepared to immerse yourself for a full two hours. If you're even the slightest fan of heist thrillers then
check out Inside Man and find out exactly why "respect is the ultimate currency."
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Denzel Washington supposedly gained weight for the role. He pretty much looked the same as always.
- Johnny Betts didn't have to gain weight for this review.
- Clive Owen was in Gosford Park with Jeremy Northam who was in Mimic with Josh Brolin who was in
Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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Mama would not approve of the language on display. There are quite a few "f" bombs, G-d**n's, and other words that
would give mama's ears heart attacks. If ears had hearts, that is.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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The trailer convinced me that I wanted to see the movie, and I'm happy to report that the film is even better than
I expected.
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THE GIST
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Inside Man is a smart, well-acted, and well-crafted thriller that will lose the interest of only those with
short attention spans. There are no mind-blowing special effects that demand you see this on the big screen, but
if you are just in the mood for an entertaining night at the movies then Inside Man is worth the price of
admission.
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