Pros: Great cast. Entertaining plot that kept my interest.
Cons: A few unanswered questions at the end.
The Bottom Line: Inside Man was a very entertaining, smart heist movie. People that like those types of movies or Washington, Owen or Foster should give this one a chance.
In the last several years, there have been several heist movies released. Since I do tend to like that type of movie, I’ve seen most of them. When I first saw the trailer for Inside Man, the plot along with the cast had me interested in seeing the movie.
One morning, a small group of people, led by Dalton Russell, dressed in painters’ coveralls enter a bank and proceed to take everyone inside hostage so they can rob it. The customers and employees were taken downstairs where they were made to strip to their underwear and then dress in the same type of coveralls. Detective Keith Frazier and his partner Detective Bill Mitchell were given the case to negotiate with the robbers. Keith was dealing with an investigation into where a large amount of money from one of his recent busts had gone. Captain John Darius was in charge on the scene and didn’t seem happy to see Keith and Bill arrive. Arthur Case, the very wealthy man that owned the bank, got very upset when he learned what was going on. His main concern was the fact that he had something he wanted kept a secret in one of the safe deposit boxes in that particular bank branch and he was worried the contents would be made public because of the robbery. He decided to hire Madeline White to make sure the contents of that particular box remained secret. Madeline had connections and used those to get involved in the situation at the scene. Keith kept working to resolve the situation and as it took longer, more questions were raised for him.
Inside Man is the newest heist movie to be released. I think the heist aspect of the movie worked very well. Other heist movies, like Ocean's 11, Ocean's Twelve, and The Italian Job, showed all kinds of planning and plotting for the different robberies. That didn’t happen in this movie. Instead, it showed the robbery as it happened. None of the planning was shown and the reasons for why Dalton planned the robbery weren’t shared at that point. The main part of the movie took place over a fairly short period of time while the robbery was on going. Some of the early scenes when characters were introduced were a little slow, but I never felt like the pace dragged and I was never bored with the movie.
As the movie progressed, some reasons for why things happened were revealed. The reasons shared did make sense, though I would have liked just a little more information. There was something specific the robbers were after and I did wonder exactly how they knew where what they wanted was or that it was even in the bank. Even though none of the planning was shown, it did look like a lot of planning was done ahead of time. It seemed like Dalton and the others knew things about the bank and the security that shouldn’t have been common knowledge. I did wonder how they got their information for planning the robbery. Dalton and the other robbers did things that made me wonder what they were up to more than once. I was kept guessing and felt the surprises worked well in the movie. There was some suspense in a few scenes without the movie being really suspenseful overall. Why certain things happened or were done remained a mystery, keeping the movie interesting. There was a little bit of action in a few scenes, including some violence when Dalton beat up a few hostages that weren’t cooperating with him. The movie really wasn’t that violent overall. I think the movie would have gotten a PG-13 rating instead of R if the word that rhymes with luck, and a few variations of it, hadn’t been used repeatedly. This movie relied on the story instead of nonstop action and special effects.
The robbery made up the main plot of Inside Man and most of the movie focused on that. There were also a few minor subplots going on. The trouble that Keith was having because of the missing money in another investigation was brought up a few different times. That did make the overall situation more complicated for Keith. He also had his girlfriend pushing him to get married. Those things really weren’t that important overall, though they did help to develop Keith more. Another subplot dealt with Arthur being concerned about the sensitive contents of his safe deposit box and his attempts to keep the information from becoming public. That did play a more important part in the movie and was the reason for Madeline becoming involved. Most of what was shown was either what was going on inside the bank with the robbers and hostages or what Keith and the other police were doing outside. The movie did jump between those two main locations many times. It also jumped around some to show the progress of a subplot as well as jumping forward to show another aspect of the investigation. I’m sure why it was decided to show those few things out of sequence that way. It was a little jarring.
The robbers and hostages were dressed in the coveralls and masks that disguised them for most of the movie. Once all the hostages were dressed that way as well, it was all but impossible to tell who was who, which was why the robbers made the hostages dress that way. During a few of the scenes the lightening looked a bit different and the picture quality even looked a bit grainy. During the beginning, when the robbers were driving to the bank, a lot of shots of New York City were shown. Throughout the movie there would be some close ups of certain parts of buildings for some reason. Over head shots were used at different times during the movie and a few of them were a little disorienting at first. During one rather important scene, a technique was used to make it look like Keith was flying while other people behind him were walking like normal. He was supposed to be running somewhere, but it looked really strange the way it was done because there was no upper body movement like there is when someone is running. When I was doing some research to double check information about the movie after seeing it, I found out that Spike Lee has had a shot like that in all of his movies. It was done well but it was jarring with the way it was used.
There were several characters in Inside Man that were given attention. The movie jumped around to show different things connected to the characters. Keith and Dalton were probably the main characters, with more being shared about Keith. A lot of why Dalton did certain things remained a mystery. It worked for the character even though I would have liked to know just a little more. Dalton acted very tough, threatening the hostages for everything and then didn’t really follow through. He talked and acted like a very intelligent man. Clive Owen was really good in the part. I also liked him in King Arthur and Derailed. He had a very small part in The Bourne Identity. The robbers spent most of the movie in the coveralls, masks, and dark sunglasses, so the viewer never really knew what they looked like. Really nothing else was shared about them while the robbery was in progress. That worked with this movie.
Keith was still involved in some trouble related to a previous case that was threatening his future with the police department. He was also dealing with a girlfriend that wanted to get married. He was doing his best to handle the situation at the bank. Denzil Washington was great in the role. He was believable as a cop dealing with a complicated situation. I also really liked his performances in The Manchurian Candidate, Man on Fireand Out of Time. Bill was Keith’s partner and involved in the situation with the bank as well. Bill didn’t seem to have as much authority or as much to do as Keith did. Chiwetel Ejiofor was really good in the part. I thought he looked familiar when I saw the movie, but it wasn’t until once I started double checking the cast that I realized he played The Operative in Serenity. He spoke with an accent in that movie that was no where to be heard in Inside Man. Bill was a very different character, which showed how good Ejiofor’s range as an actor is. He is very talented. He also an important part in Four Brothers .
I’m still not sure exactly what Madeline’s actual job was. She seemed to fix problems or keep situations under control for very wealthy clients. The clients she helped would then owe her favors that she would call in to help other clients. She was hired by Arthur to make sure that the contents of his safe deposit box remained a secret. She called in a favor to get herself on the scene at the bank, acting like she had a perfect right to be there and would know how to deal with an armed bank robber in a hostage situation. She really wasn’t a villain, though she didn’t act very nice. She was very cool and controlled all the time. She was able to think fast and seemed to always know what to say. She was always impeccably dressed in suits and expensive heels. Her hair always looked perfect. She was always well dressed, but still put out a lot of sex appeal. Her appeareance was part of the image she projected to prospective clients. She moved in very powerful circles. Jodie Foster was amazing in the part. I’ve liked her for years and think she is very talented. I’ve never seen her play a character like this before. She looked so elegant in the suits her character wore, something that she hasn’t really had the chance to do in other movies. The suits and heels her character always had on gave her the chance to show off her amazing legs. Her characters were very different in Contact and Flightplan.
John Darius was a police officer on the scene. He was in charge of what looked like a SWAT team. He wasn’t happy when Keith and Bill showed up. He wanted to make all the decisions about how to handle the situation himself. Willem Dafoe was fine in the part. The part was a bit smaller than others I’ve seen him in, but he still did a good job in it. He had a major part in Spider-Manand made a brief appearance in Spider-Man 2. I’ve also seen him in Once Upon a Time in Mexico in Mexico and he provided a voice in Finding Nemo. Arthur Case was the older, very wealthy owner of the bank that was being robbed. His first concern on hearing about the robbery was for his safe deposit box and the very sensitive contents. He didn’t seem to be that concerned for the safety of the hostages. Christopher Plummer didn’t have as much to do as some of the other actors, but he was very good in the scenes he did have. He had a very small part in National Treasure. Plummer may be best known for his part in The Sound of Music.
Main Cast
Willem Dafoe - Captain John Darius
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Detective Bill Mitchell
Jodie Foster - Madeline White
Clive Owen - Dalton Russell
Christopher Plummer - Arthur Case
Denzel Washington - Detective Keith Frazier
Spike Lee - Director
Inside Man was a very entertaining movie that I really enjoyed. It is a smart heist movie and worth seeing if you like that type of movie. Fans of the cast should also give the movie a chance.
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