Inside Man

March 24th, 2006







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Inside Man

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Still of Willem Dafoe in Inside ManStill of Denzel Washington and Chiwetel Ejiofor in Inside ManJodie Foster at event of Inside ManStill of Denzel Washington in Inside ManStill of Clive Owen in Inside ManStill of Chiwetel Ejiofor in Inside Man

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

Release Year: 2006

Rating: 7.7/10 (130,684 voted)

Critic's Score: 76/100

Director: Spike Lee

Stars: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster

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?

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

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



Details

Official Website: Official site [Russia] | UIP [Germany] |

Release Date: 24 March 2006

Filming Locations: Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $28,954,945 (USA) (26 March 2006) (2818 Screens)

Gross: $88,504,640 (USA) (2 July 2006)



Technical Specs

Runtime:



Did You Know?

Trivia:
Shot in 39 days.

Goofs:
Continuity: When Madeline and Arthur are finished discussing his sordid pass, she reaches deliberately for her purse/bag, then accepts Arthur's check and turns to walk out of the barber's room. As she leaves the room she has no bag - she uses both hands to button her jacket as she walks, and she has no bag on her shoulder.

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...



User Review

an entertaining heist flick

Rating: 8/10

Note: I stay away from describing the plot in any detail because it would be very hard to do so without spoiling elements of it. "Inside Man" starts out as a no holds barred, high octane action-thriller, and by its midpoint fully transforms into a breezy, tongue-in-cheek heist movie, reminiscent of The Sting. I felt it to be a little over-plotted, but that comes with the genre - the expected twists and turns are all here, thankfully mostly in non-expected ways. Contrivances abound, and we don't really learn the background of the heist (ie. how the robbers learned about their target) but the story and the overall atmosphere more than make up for this. The meticulously designed plot also compensates for the lack of real 3D characterization - save for Denzel Washington's ambitious policeman hero, who at least achieves a level of humanity throughout the story. The character interaction between him and his sidekick (Chiwetel Ejiofor of "Serenity" fame) and the frustrated captain played by Willem Defoe is great with some sparkling dialog. Clive Owen is okay, most of the time convincing as the criminal mastermind, although he spends most of the film wearing a mask. I'd say this film is harmless fun, not your usual Spike Lee fare, which goes to prove his versatility. There is a hint in the back-story at some heavy issues of the past, but it's nothing more than a macguffin that only achieves some slight significance in the resolution of the movie. There is a neat structural trickery in the use of flash-forward scenes, hinting toward the aftermath of the heist without giving away the real ending. It's used sparingly and cleverly. I can highly recommend this movie, it is never boring for a moment, what's more, I was enjoying it so much that as events were progressing toward the climax, I was wishing it would go on. And that's very rare for me in the movies nowadays.





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