Inside Man (2006)

Director:

Spike Lee

Writer (WGA):

Russell Gewirtz (written by)

Release Date:

24 March 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

It looked like the perfect bank robbery. But you can't judge a crime by its cover.

Plot:

A cop has to talk down a bank robber after the criminal's perfect heist spirals into a hostage situation.

Plot Keywords:

Bank | Hostage | Detective | Police | Heist

Awards:

4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Denzel Washington	...	Detective Keith Frazier
Clive Owen	...	Dalton Russell
Jodie Foster	...	Madeleine White
Christopher Plummer	...	Arthur Case
Willem Dafoe	...	Captain John Darius
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Detective Bill Mitchell
Carlos Andrés Gómez	...	Steve
Kim Director	...	Stevie
James Ransone	...	Steve-O
Bernie Rachelle	...	Chaim (as Bernard Rachelle)
Peter Gerety	...	Captain Coughlin
Victor Colicchio	...	Sergeant Collins
Cassandra Freeman	...	Sylvia
Peter Frechette	...	Peter Hammond
Gerry Vichi	...	Herman Gluck

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violent images.

Runtime:

129 min | Turkey:116 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Albanian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R | Ireland:15A | UK:15 | Germany:12 | Australia:MA | Netherlands:12 | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Denmark:11 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Malaysia:18PL | Malaysia:U (edited version) | Sweden:11 | Hungary:16 | Italy:T | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Mexico:B15

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The interrogation scenes were mostly ad-libbed.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Dalton stands inside the bank vault staring at the cash, the scene jumps from a wide, distant shot, to medium, to close-in, just outside the cage. Another robber stands just outside and between jumps his gun position shifts from relaxed to raised to relaxed again.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dalton Russell: My name is Dalton Russell. Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully and I never repeat myself. I've told you my name: that's the Who. The Where could most readily be described as a prison cell. But there's a vast difference between being stuck in a tiny cell and being in prison...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Howard Stern on Demand: Artie Gambles/Sandra Bernhard" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Patton (Theme)

some clever idea and great cast

It's curious to see Spike Lee do a straight caper movie. The movie is absent Lee's usual politics, though there are occasional glimpses of his sensibilities. At one point a Sikh has his turban taken away and complains at ends how Sikhs are not Arabs and he's tired of getting harassed all the time.

Anyway, the cast is great - Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, and Christopher Plummer are all top-drawer actors. Willem Dafoe has a smaller part that doesn't use all of his talents, unfortunately. The clever twist the plot adds is that the bank robbers dress everybody up in the same masks and jump suits that they themselves are wearing. So if the police raid the bank, they'll have a difficult time figuring who the bad guys are. (This isn't a spoiler - it's in the trailers.) Clive Owen and the robbers are clearly up to something that becomes apparent during the course of the film. They are particularly interested in the safety deposit box of the bank CEO, played by Christopher Plummer. Jodie Foster is brought in by him to protect "his interests". Her existence is amusing in that it reveals a bit about what Spike Lee thinks the corridors of white power are like. (Here's a hint, Spike: rich white folks don't swear at each other quite as much as you make them do, and in particular the word used by the Mayor to describe Jodie Foster's character is way beyond the pale. A real woman with as much influence as her character had would retaliate massively after being so described. But Spike Lee has never quite managed to capture any female character correctly, dating all the way back to Nola Darling. I digress.) The good parts of the film involve the interactions between Washington and Owen. Also, the many small man-on-the-street conversations are great. This aspect of observing street life has always been one of Lee's strongest points.

It was interesting watching a Spike Lee caper film. I kinda like the idea. It's better than the formulaic caper films that are the rage, and features some of Lee's trademark shots, like when he puts an actor on a dolly to create non-walking walking movement. I recommend the film.