TNMC

Spike Lee’s found success in the past few years by breaking away from the films he got his start with. The man is known for two things: his early career as a young, black independent film maker, and being a really lousy basketball fan. Neither of those things apply to "Inside Man". If you’re looking for a somewhat pretentious world view, though, you’ll find plenty of that here.

"Inside Man"
Written by Russell Gewirtz & Menno Meyjes
Directed by Spike Lee

The film breaks type with Lee in that it doesn’t really feature any African American leads. Lee’s "Summer of Sam" didn’t have any black actors in it, that I recall at least. Unless you count the archive footage of Reggie Jackson, which I don’t. It’s a thriller set around a bank robbery cum hostage negotiation that isn’t at all what it appears to be. It’s really quite gripping. I had a hard time getting started, because I’ve come to avoid Spike Lee’s work over the years, given how poorly he comes across in interviews sometimes. This was completely unfair, because he didn’t write it and the two men who did cranked out such an excellent script that I feel really guilty not giving it the chance it deserved.

IMDb has three names attached to this project. Jodie Foster, Clive Owen, and Denzel Washington. When I read it, none of those faces crossed my mind. Oddly enough Ryan Reynolds kept popping into my head for some reason. I wonder what that means.

The term "inside man" has more than one meaning. In most cases, it refers to a covert collaborator working inside an organization that opens the door to potential incursion from outside forces. That meaning doesn’t really apply to this script, that I can see. The script follows a young, idealistic man named Dalton Russell as he tries to set things right and get rich quick all at the same time. He has to struggle against the police, the wealthy man who owns the bank, that man’s mysterious and dangerous femme fatale mercenary, and the hostages themselves. We watch as he plays an energetic game of cat and mouse with everyone involved.

Though the ringleader is the central character, the audience sees most of the events through the eyes of Miller, a police officer in the middle of a serious career crisis. He’s been accused of stealing money while on the job, and things don’t look good. He’s the last guy anyone wants mixed up in this mess, but they don’t have much choice at the time. If Denzel Washington is going to play anyone in this film, Miller is probably the only character I can imagine him doing. Most of the characters are described pretty clearly, but Miller is a complete blank. He’d be a walk in the park for a man of Washington’s caliber. Hands down.

These two guys express the main conflict, but there’s another party involved. A mysterious woman named Madeleine White. What she is and what she does isn’t made clear, but that’s a good thing. She’s hired by the owner of the bank to clear this entire mess up and to cover his ass in the process. She doesn’t come cheap. It’s implied that she does work for very high profile businessmen and politicians. She’s deeply immersed in all of the filthy dealings throughout history. Hell, she even knows who killed JFK, and says as much. My only complaint about her is that she’s somewhat underused. She’s this massive gun brought pretty early, which you expect to go off later, but doesn’t really. It’s a bit of a disappointment.

All in all, this is an excellent story. The characters are very well put together, and a strong cast could make this one of 2006’s best films. The central character’s motives are a bit pretentious for my tastes, but that’s easily overshadowed by the fact that he has no delusions about what he wants out of this. He wants to make sure that someone pays for a crime they committed years ago, but he also wants to make sure that he gets rich in the process. He’s like Robin Hood, only he keeps the money in the end. That just tickles me in places I can’t mention.

Good film. I look forward to seeing it on the big screen.