Inside Man
Call me crazy, but I think I’m becoming a Spike Lee fan. The director’s been on my radar for a while, but it seemed for every “Malcolm X” and “25th Hour,” there was a “Summer of Sam” and “She Hate Me” that ruined the goodwell of the good stuff. But having recently seen “Do the Right Thing” and “Clockers”- which have long been in my Netflix Queue and are two of his best- and now “Inside Man,” Lee- one of the most polarizing of modern directors- is unquestionably on my good side. “Inside Man” is another piece of popcorn filmmaking in 2006 that at once embraces formula and destroys it with intelligence and devious wit- see “V for Vendetta” and “16 Blocks.”
Of course, it helps that Lee has his best card up his sleeve in Denzel Washington- his star in “Malcolm X,” “He Got Game,” and “Mo’ Better Blues”- as Detective Keith Frazier, a hostage negotiator under the radar a bit recently for some questionable dealings when the call comes in about a bank robbery taking place at Manhattan Trust with hostages involved. He and his partner, Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor, as good here as he was in “Serenity” and “Dirty Pretty Things”), spring into action and take over the scene as Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) calls the shots and waits his opportunity from inside, getting his hostages into the same painter gear his team is wearing and hiding his face with a mask. Russell, in the opening head-on shot, has setup the proceedings by stating he’s staged the perfect bank robbery, and as the script by first-timer Russell Gewirtz takes us through its’ serpentine twists and turns (with an inventive use of flash-forwards to keep us off-balance), you start to take him at his word; I didn’t have a damn clue as to what was gonna happen.
It’s a kick watching Washington and Owen- two of the business’ best- play the psychological cat-and-mouse you expect in the genre; Hell, these two could be playing Go Fish and make it the most riveting thing in the world (see “Training Day,” “Croupier,” “Philadelphia,” “Closer,” etc.). But Lee hits the bullseye by bringing in Jodie Foster- another acting heavyweight (her duel Oscars match Washington’s)- as Madeline White, a shady character not above a morally ambiguous buck- she’s setting up Bin Laden’s nephew with a co-op in the city- who is brought in by Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer), the owner of Manhattan Trust, to protect his “interests”- I’ll let the script fill in that blank. Now, if you saw Foster in films like “Silence of the Lambs” and “Panic Room,” you know she specializes in smart, tough women- “Inside Man” shows her playing another one, except Madeline is just a cold, ball-busting, well, bitch. Pardon the phrasing, but nothing else fits. You’ve never seen Foster like this before, and you’ll never forget the sly thrill of watching her tear Washington’s cop a new one mentally- who thought THAT was possible- and match wits with Owen’s robber during their one scene together, where we see what Case was looking to hide. That she doesn’t have a bigger role- or more scenes with Washington and Owen- is to be lamented by acting buffs, but this is one of those cases where less is definitely more.
“Inside Man” reminded me a lot of Richard Donner’s recent “16 Blocks”- both are old-fashioned thrillers by respected directors with skeletons in their respective closets (ie past films), working from scripts focused on character, story, and texture, with actors interested in tweaking their image a bit (“16 Blocks” was one of Bruce Willis’ best performances; all three main leads in “Man” are at the top of their game), and behind-the-scenes collaborators (cheers here to “Inside Man” cinematographer Matthew Libatique and Lee’s frequent composer Terence Blanchard) who love the freedom the director gives them while serving their vision of the story. That Spike Lee- one of the most socially-conscious filmmakers ever (even if he isn’t subtle about it at times)- brings his distinct voice and vision to this particular genre film without calling attention to it is a sign of growth for the filmmaker, and a welcome pleasure for any audience member looking, like Washington’s character is forced to, beneath the surface of a usual story for the details anyone else would miss.
