Volatile showdown between a detective and a cunning bank robber goes tense when mysterious power broker who has a hidden agenda and threatens to push a tense situation past the breaking point.
The ending has some plotting issues-much of this perfect execution seems to rest on coincidence and/or the intelligence level of the law types dealing with it-but everything up to it is well-made and entertaining. A fine summer rental.
As unexpected as some of its plot twists is the fact that this unapologetic genre movie was directed by Spike Lee, who has never sold himself as Mr. Entertainment. But here it is, a Spike Lee joint that's downright fun.
An intelligent, invigoratingly airtight caper and a love letter to New York on crumpled, coffee-stained paper, "Inside Man" is the best kind of Spike Lee joint - one where he doesn't stumble over his sledgehammer before swinging it.
The lack of characterization of the robbers, while true to the structure of the story, makes it seem a bit flat. At the end of the day, it's not really about anything; it's just a bunch of stuff that happens. But it's a bunch of stuff that's fun to watch.
I gloried in the sheer spectacle of Jodie Foster as Madeline White, an exquisitely groomed, fearlessly feline fixer striding on her high heels and her high horse into one supposedly perilous situation after another.
It doesn't seem to play to his strengths yet it's a perfect crucible for Spike to explore his pet themes of race and class in the lumpy melting pot of New York City and a great set-up for what he does best...
