Inside Man

Inside Man begins with the chugging, toe-tapping Bollywood number, Chaiya Chaiya. Though there are no major characters of Indian descent, it seems an appropriate choice, getting the viewer in the mood for a tightly-wound thriller that, though well-crafted and engagingly presented, ultimately lets down at the end.

Like the bank-robbery films that are its ancestors (I'm thinking mostly of Dog Day Afternoon and Quick Change) the film begins with the perpetrators walking into the door of the bank, with no backstory. In this case, the robbers are led by the cool Clive Owen. Denzel Washington play a cop who is under internal investigation for some missing money, but he picks up the case because the usual guy is on vacation. Soon it becomes apparent to him that it is not a simple robbery, and the owner of the bank, Christopher Plummer, seems far too interested in what is inside a safe-deposit box, and employs fixer Jodie Foster to make sure its contents don't fall into the wrong hands.

The chess game between Washington and Owen is very entertaining and well-directed, and there are some great lines of dialogue. I was enjoyably baffled as to what was really going on. But I was let down by the conclusion, which wasn't as socko as the set-up would have us believe. I also found Jodie Foster's performance odd. She's some sort of power-broker, but delivers her lines is a smirky tone.

This is probably the best Spike Lee movie in ages, ranking below Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X on my list.