Inside Man (2006)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

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 | Negotiation | Manhattan

Awards:

5 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:

Paul's (Lemon Andersen) line calling one of the detectives that were interrogating him a "wassa-wassa" was improvised. So was Detective Frazier's (Denzel Washington) answer: "Do you know how to say Rikers Island in Spanish?"

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the end credits, the word "Mobile" is repeatedly misspelled "Mobil".

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:

References "Kojak" (1973)

Soundtrack:

Chaiyya Chaiyya

Well made heist flick

An unusual turn for director Spike Lee, the conventional heist movie 'Inside Man', starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster & Chiwetel Ojiofor.

Even though the plot has twists, it's still pretty straight forward stuff for the usually controversial filmmaker. What is obvious though, is that good filmmakers turn this material into something more than it might have been by a 'lesser' director.

Solid performances by the cast, even though Jodie Foster is somewhat underused in this, but still, a solid heist movie with an interesting turn of events.