Inside Man (2006)

A police detective, a bank robber, and a high-power broker enter high-stakes negotiations after the criminal's brilliant heist spirals into a hostage situation.

Director:

Spike Lee

Writer:

Russell Gewirtz

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster

6 wins & 11 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

Composed and meticulous, the soft-spoken and ingenious bank robber, Dalton Russell, has orchestrated the perfect heist--shortly, the Manhattan bank at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway along with dozens of hostages will be his to command. Try as he might, the rough hostage negotiator, Keith Frazier, is always one step behind the criminal mastermind--and what is more disheartening--the institution's silver-haired founder, Arthur Case, recruits the intelligent problem-fixer, Madeline White, to retrieve something of paramount importance. However, the thieves seem to procrastinate intentionally, when they should be rushing into action. Will Arthur and Madeline get what they want this time?

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Plot Keywords:

bank | hostage | robber | negotiation | detective | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violent images

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook UIP [Germany]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Albanian Spanish

Release Date:

24 March 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Inside Man

Filming Locations:

Exchange Place, Lower Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,954,945, 26 March 2006, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$88,513,495

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$184,376,254

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

After Madeleine (Jodie Foster) first meets with Dalton (Clive Owen), she is debriefed by Detective Frazier (Denzel Washington). During the debrief, Frazier asks if Dalton is "smarter than me? One of your types...Ivy-League type?" Jodie Foster actually graduated from Yale University, an Ivy League school. Much of the dialogue in the film was improvised, and it appears that Denzel Washington improvised this line because Foster's scripted response is interrupted, and there is a slight awkward pause.

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Goofs

At the beginning the flag poles are empty. In the next shot there are flags on them.

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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...

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Crazy Credits

Most unusual for a feature film the creative filmmakers (such as director, writer, producer etc.) are named on a title card in the end credits in addition to their appearance in the opening credits.

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Connections

Referenced in The Gallows (2015)

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Soundtracks

Patton (Theme)
Written by Jerry Goldsmith

User Reviews

Would have been better if it wasn't so 'clever'...

It's all too obvious that Inside Man is meant to be a lot more clever than it actually is; director Spike Lee peppers his film with a light sprinkling of comments on race and society, but not many of them hold any weight and by the time the film ends, it's difficult to work out just what Lee is actually trying to say. Films that try to be intelligent and fail usually receive low ratings from me, but this one manages to claw some points back because it is entertaining, and the central bank robbery plot line is intricately handled with care and panache. It's a shame that Lee decided to try and make more of this than was necessary. I realise that a great deal of undemanding bank robbery films have already been made; but this one could have been one of the best if the director had stuck to the strongpoints. The plot has two sides to it as we follow a bank robbery from inside the bank and out. Dalton is a smart bank robber who figures out a way to both rob a bank and bamboozle the police at the same time. Denzel Washington is the cop on the case, while the plot is given a third dimension from a scheming power broker.

One of the principle problems with this film is that too much is made of it, and the plot sometimes doesn't come together very well as Lee analyses his plot from both a past and present perspective. This means that we have the police interviewing suspects at the same time as the robbery is going on, and this usually involves cutting back to the bank and seeing someone doing something memorable, before Denzel Washington and his partner try to crack the people they think could be responsible. It gets a bit repetitive too often, but there's usually just about enough going on to make the film interesting. The acting is good, with the wooden Clive Owen getting a role that suits him as the masked bank robber; while the charismatic Denzel Washington provides more interest as the copper. Willem Dafoe doesn't make much of an impression, however, and Jodie Foster could have been better used. Scenes such as the one that sees a kid talking to Clive Owen about a video game involving some rapper are painful and unnecessary, however. The heist plot is well worked out, though, and seeing the plan come together at the end is the film's biggest highlight. Overall, I can't say I didn't enjoy this film as its entertaining and well worked; but it's not the great film that the director obviously wanted it to be.