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.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.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.
- Awards
- 5 wins & 12 nominations
- Chaim
- (as Bernard Rachelle)
- Bank Guard
- (as Rodney 'Bear' Jackson)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe scene in the coffee shop was improvised. On the DVD commentary, Spike Lee states that when Denzel Washington ad-libbed the line "I'll bet you can get a cab though," he nearly ruined the take by laughing so loud at Washington's line.
- GoofsThe cops are supposedly fooled when the gang play part of a speech in Albanian by the late Enver Hoxha to fool their listening devices. But even though they don't know the language, they ought to notice that it sounds like a monologue by one man rather than a possible conversation between four bank robbers, one of them female.
That's not how human comprehension works. When listening to a torrent of unfamiliar comprehensible sounds, after a while, the brain treats them like white noise, unable to recognize them or sort them into discrete parts of a conversation.
- Quotes
Dalton Russell: I'm no martyr. I did it for the money. But it's not worth much if you can't face yourself in the mirror. Respect is the ultimate currency. I was stealing from a man who traded his away for a few dollars. And then he tried to wash away his guilt. Drown it in a lifetime of good deeds and a sea of respectability. It almost worked, too. But inevitably, the further you run from your sins, the more exhausted you are when they catch up to you. And they do. Certain. It will not fail.
- Crazy creditsMost unusual for a feature film, all orchestra musicians are credited individually with their respective occupation.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Inside Men: Denzel & Spike - Man to Man (2006)
- SoundtracksChaiyya 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
No ordinary film maker, Lee taps his expertise in film making, applying superior cinematography, editing, and direction skills.
Headlining the film is Denzel Washington as the good guy cop, and Clive Owen as the highly intelligent robber (with the screen-play thankfully avoiding the crazy/insane cliche' Bond movie villain characterization).
"Filling-in" as good as one will find in bank robber caper films are the superior supporting cast performances of Christopher Plummer (who has never delivered anything sub-par in his career), Jodie Foster (effectively playing against her "type"), Willem Dafoe (over-due for an Oscar), Chiwetel Ejiofor (perfect subtle side-arm detective partner to Denzel), and across the board good performances by the entire supporting ensemble cast.
Lee doesn't try to play out the big surprise ending cliche', but instead allows one to piece things together as the film unfolds, letting us "in" to the narrative piece by piece. This is refreshing and elevates the film overall.
Really hard to find any critical piece missing in the film. Editing and pacing excellent, and even the potentially preposterous story idea works. Yes there are a few "identifying the magician's tricks" moments inside what could have been a perceived as an over the top narrative, but one overlooks those because this is quite the entertaining film and it is put together so well - Witty dialogue delivered by some of the all-time great actors who were perfectly cast on their parts.
Bravo to all concerned👏, and two thumbs up!👍👍
- Instant_Palmer
- Jun 13, 2021
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- El plan perfecto
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $45,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $88,513,495
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $28,954,945
- Mar 26, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $186,003,591