I never knew Spike Lee directed such Hollywood movies, but there it is, Inside Man is perhaps the most Hollywood movie Lee will ever direct, and you know what, it\'s pretty damn good.
The movie deals with a bank heist that Frazier thinks is just an open and shut case, but as the hours go by he realizes that there is something strangely amiss with the proceedings. The first is the fact that the bank president is strangely concerned with specific contents within the bank rather than hostages. He hires Madeline White to oversee the proceedings and make sure that these contents are not exposed, although I\'m not entirely quite sure what her purpose in the movie is, maybe just to give Frazier a hard time? The other is the fact that the heist leader is incredibly smart and is always one or two steps ahead of Frazier. He knows exactly what he\'s doing and has all the materials in order to pull off a perfect heist. So it continues and eventually we learn the meaning of the heist and so on.
The acting was decent. Probably the best moments in the movie were between Washington and Owen. Both knew exactly what they needed to do to pull of the heist genre and were convincing in their parts. Other characters not so much. I felt like Jodie Foster\'s character didn\'t have enough of anything to come off as convincing. Instead of being polished and professional, she seems more like a bumbling idiot. This is not to say that she didn\'t do a good job acting, it was just that she didn\'t really have a purpose, I think her official title was a facilitator or something like that. She\'s the go to person if the cops and the FBI can\'t get the job done, but she doesn\'t really get anything done in this movie. But besides that, I liked the scenes with Willem Dafoe as he always plays his parts well. Besides the acting, it seems more like New York City with the atmosphere, scenery, and even jokes about Metro-North (being a New Yorker, I can appreciate this). The other great homage to the NYC melting pot is the fact that you can probably shout any language and there will always be some one who will understand, as the movie shows. Lee does a great job incorporating a lot of elements to make it work. There are also some great shots in this movie, and I do enjoy Lee\'s camera work, it works well in a heist movie.
The thing that I have to complain about is the fact that it was over two hours long, and as I have a short attention span, I wanted the movie to end sooner than it did. The ending could have been condensed a bit and some of the character development in between maybe wasn’t entirely necessary, but it did flesh out the characters. However, in a movie in this kind of genre, we don’t really want a lot of back-story. In fact, so long as there’s a little bit, then that’s enough. The conclusion is also a bit unbelievable, but hey isn’t that what Hollywood is for. Another thing too is that Lee’s portrayal of the Jewish community is pretty stereotypical, but then again most movies don’t really show them much different.
Overall, it is an enjoyable movie, although a bit luke warm. It does, however, give a new twist to the heist genre and gives a convincing enough performance that will keep you watching, but maybe not at the edge of your seat. I suggest seeing it in the theaters, it will keep you entertained. This may be Lee\'s most commercial movie, but he hasn\'t sold out yet. Maybe in a couple more movies he\'ll be tired of sticking it to The Man. Until then, enjoy Inside Man with the knowledge that this still is Spike Lee.
