Provides an instruction manual on how to do crime-heists, and how to do them well. The suspense filling every second of the film like an overstuffed balloon and you’re waiting for it to pop. Inside Man isn’t a simple cat-and-mouse game, but three very different groups each with their own objective and investment when a bank heist gets underway. First there are the criminals, who plan a faultless bank robbery and subsequent hostage situation, second the detectives who refuse to be easily fooled, and thirdly the corrupt elite looking to bend a situation to their benefit and to free themselves from any future implications that might be lurking within the bank.
“Anyone else here smarter than me?”
Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) asks his captive audience this, and us as well, as we’re introduced to the combatants of the game. Their wits pitched against each other as they risk it all. Russell will explain the rules of his game and the details to you, but only once, so listen well and watch everything carefully – as he executes a plan to steal from a bank and get away with it.
His main obstacle, and suitably matched opponent, is Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington), who relishes the fight between the two of them, and doesn’t shy away from beating the bad guys. The film starts with a low point in Frazier’s career; he’s been wrongly accused of taking 140k in dirty money, but he’s not worried – that’s just not him – for he strongly believes in the justice system; that those who commit crimes are the ones that’ll be caught. But is he about to learn that’s not true? Thrown a bone by his captain, Frazier is made the hostage negotiator of the bank robbery, making him the man in charge, and wow are the police force efficient here – hitting the audience with the seriousness of the case – as a parade of armed guns and snipers line up their barrels at the building.
It quickly seems however that this is no ordinary bank. It’s owner Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer) is rich beyond belief and has so many banks that they’re referred to only by number, but when he realises which of his banks is being robbed Arthur’s face turns ashen. He might just have a secret in the bank, one he hopes will never get out.
Needing a smart negotiator of his own, Arthur hires Madeleine White (Jodie Foster) an arranger-of-sorts who buries people’s dirty business in whichever way she can. Her quick mind and sharp claws will all be needed if she hopes to win this mind-game of a thriller.
After setting the scenes of the hostage situation, and looking at the well-thought-out plans of the robbers, Inside Man then switches back and forth to future interviews held with the hostages; their thoughts, feelings, and how they remember the turn of events. Each of which have been made to remember it differently, and thereby making it harder for Frazier and his partner Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to separate the guilty from the innocent, and even if they do, what crime would they be prosecuted for?
The crooks, cops and the arranger all have their aims and agenda, and each know their moves in this game of chess, but keep failing to predict the other’s – except that is for the end winner. Still, the threats go round and round, each biting off more than they can chew, with the final ending hinting at the damage to come. In this, I wish just a glimpse of the fallout could’ve been shown, the build-up having existed for it. But then maybe that would have taken the mystery out of the film and pushed it into being clichéd.
Filmed not long after 9/11, Spike Lee has created a masterpiece of a thriller that also subtly comments on America’s prejudicial view on race and ethnicity. There are several cringe-worthy references; Al-Qaeda could be involved, to a hostage who was simply wearing a turban being immediately treated like a terrorist – his later commentary on his day-to-day experiences of persecution cuttingly delivered by the actor Waris Ahluwalia:
“Fuckin’ tired of this shit. What happened to my fuckin’ civil rights? Why can’t I go anywhere without being harassed? Get thrown out of a bank, I’m a hostage, I get harassed. I go to the airport, I can’t go through security without a random selection. Fuckin’ random, my ass.”
The response given being just another jibe that’s put like a joke – making another moment of prejudice, but as it’s laughed off, I’m made to wonder, should we be laughing at such things? There are many more of these, from addressing someone by the wrong name, to saying a staff member at an Albanian embassy was hard to understand and probably wanted money. Whether a link was purposefully meant between the prejudices of the past and those of today – hinting at the danger of doing so – it’s a powerful message and done so well that while blended into the film, you still note them.
Another area of social commentary is the introspection on a desensitized child as they play a highly violent and bloody video game, his exposure to them and other popular culture has, by all appearances, caused him to be unaffected by the very real hostage situation, and to almost admire the criminal acts both on screen and in life.
Many movies and TV shows could take a hint from the filming of night-time scenes in Inside Man – for you can actually see what’s happening and still get the atmospheric vibes. There’s also no overuse of special and unique camera angles and techniques, with only a nice slide-in by Denzel at hearing a bang – emphasising a moment of panic and the single mindset of his character – and the film’s beginning when the background of Russell’s concrete wall is brought into the foreground, both of which stand out.
In not overplaying camera techniques the story is allowed to take centre stage, the sharp cut-to and editing keeping the audience in pace with the primary two character’s, Russell and Frazier’s, fast-driven actions. The respective actors, Clive Owen and Denzel Washington, being a marriage made in heaven, their acting and characters being on par enough that you root for both, even if their aims come into conflict.
Inside Man also makes a point to capture New York’s architecture; magnificent carvings, sculptures, vaulted and decorated ceilings. It’s an opulence of wealth, made disgusting by the rich and immoral powerful who created it, but as Plummer says it “…paid too well.”
The only downside of Inside Man is that it made little use of Foster’s character – Madeline – her conniving, immoral nature and the level she’s willing to sink to only hinted at. Instead she manages to keep her outfits pretty clean from the dirt. Furthermore, Foster’s often able to bring so much more to the characters she plays; adding a touch of something that indicates there’s another level to her – but in this it’s missing, which seems more than a little wasteful.
Inside Man is a crime-thriller all the way with a clever narrator, characters you champion for and an exciting puzzle of pieces – that when put together leaves you clapping in admiration, and wondering why hasn’t the writer become a master thief himself?
Director: Spike Lee
Other notable works:
- American Utopia 2020
- BlackKkKlansman 2018
- Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall 2016
- Bad 25 2012
- Pariah 2011
- When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts 2006-2007
- 25th Hour 2002
- A Huey P. Newton Story 2001
- Love & Basketball 2000
- 4 Little Girls 1997
- Malcolm X 1992
- Do the Right Thing 1989
Writer: Russell Gewirtz
