Chiwetel Ejiofor

All is not what it seems in Spike Lee’s Inside Man, the most classically Hollywood movie to date for the veteran director. Spike Lee staple Denzel Washington returns for his fourth film with the director, this time as a New York detective suspected of criminal activities. Washington’s main ally and partner in this film is Chiwetel Ejiofor, the nameless and rankless Operative from Joss Whedon’s Serenity. Inserting three-dimensionality into their supporting characters alongside Washington are a host of other A-list actors including Jodie Foster as an unscrupulous go-between for the city’s most powerful people and Clive Owen as the obligatory "bad guy" and foil for Washington’s character.

The Inside Man is very Dog Day Afternoon-ish, so much so that Washington’s character mentions the obvious parallels of that film to their present situation when Owen’s character makes a particular demand of the New York Police Department. What sets this film apart from other "caper" films is how well written the principle characters are. Within one or two scenes, someone watching this film will know all they need to know about the main characters. You’ll know that Christopher Plummer’s character has something he wants to keep hidden, that Foster’s character knows that the art of being a good business person is being a good middle man, that Owen’s character is no common bank robber and that Washington’s character is going to use this opportunity to stabilize and advance his career.

Most of the social commentary found in Lee’s Do the Right Thing and his pulverizing Bamboozled are not present in Inside Man but the smear of their residue can still be seen by the observant viewer. In a scene between Owen’s character and the child of one of his bank captives, a stereotypical video game involving African-Americans is played by the child to Owen’s dismay and bafflement. This was an obvious reference to Rockstar Games most notorious line of videogames, Grand Theft Auto and how parents are oblivious to the types of violent games their children are playing. Lee also references a very special type of beverage found in Bamboozled at the end of Inside Man, clearly implying the effect it has on a person and their mental vitality.

Lee’s Inside Man is an intelligent crime movie populated by intelligent characters. It is not as visceral or as vicious as Michael Mann’s Heat and it’s not the classic that Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon is (and was most likely never intended to be) but it is a solid film that develops its characters and entertains and surprises its viewers.