Inside Man (2006)

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

Director:

Spike Lee

Writer:

Russell Gewirtz

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster

5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

From a cell, a man tells us he has planned the perfect bank robbery; he invites us to watch. An efficient gang enters a Manhattan bank, locks the doors, and takes hostages. They work deliberately, without haste. Detective Frazier is assigned to negotiate, but half his mind is occupied with the corruption charges he is facing. The bank's president has something to protect in a safe deposit box, so he brings in Madaline, a high-power broker with a hidden agenda. With an army of police surrounding the bank, the thief, the cop, and the plutocrat's fixer enter high-stakes negotiations. Why are the robbers asking for a plane, if they are so competent and they know they won't get one? Why aren't they in more of a hurry? If the job's perfect, why is the thieves' leader in a cell?

---

Plot Keywords:

bank | hostage | police | negotiation | heist | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violent images

Details

Official Sites:

UIP [de] Universal [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Albanian

Release Date:

24 March 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

El plan perfecto

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$68,827 (Norway) (7 April 2006)

Gross:

$88,504,640 (USA) (30 June 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The line: "Detective First Grade Keith Frazier.....Yesss!!!" is a tribute to New York Knicks former long-time announcer Marv Albert. After a made basket by 1970's New York Knicks star 'Walter Frazier', Albert would say: "Walt Frazier shoots....Yesss!!!"

---

Goofs

At the end of the film, Dalton is leaving the "storage room". On the left side of the screen, one can see a set of doors that have glass over them, and a short distance back, outside windows with sunlight streaming in. The distance is too short to match up to the apparent length of the storage room as seen in the earlier parts of the film. There is also no indication that there could be any ceiling over that space.

---

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. The What is easy: recently I planned and set in motion events to execute the perfect bank robbery. That's also the When. As for the Why: beyond the obvious financial motivation...

---

Crazy Credits

Again most unusual for a feature film all orchestra musicians are credited individually with their respective occupation.

---

Connections

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

---

Soundtracks

"Chaiyya Chaiyya"
Written by A.R. Rahman, Gulzar
Performed by Sukhwinder Singh, Sapna Awasthi
Courtesy of Venus Records and Tapes Pvt. Ltd, India Talkies Pvt. Ltd & A.R. Rahman
Orchestral Arrangement by Terence Blanchard

User Reviews

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.