Review of Inside Man

Introduction

One of the rules of Hollywood is that for every few politically charged, esoteric, socio-centric films a director makes, he or she has to make a commercially accessible, money making, media-for-the-masses piece. Otherwise, the kids would be going to school hungry with holes in their shoes.

Spike Lee`s latest "joint" is just that. Probably. Well, you have to assume there`s been a little pressure exerted before NYC`s own Mr Controversy makes something as generic as a `heist thriller`.

So here he is, hooking up with Denzel for the fourth time (after Mo` Better Blues, Malcolm X and He Got Game) for the tale of cops and a robber trading wits - Dalton Russell (Owen) and his cronies have held up a bank. Keith Frazier (Washington) and Bill Mitchell (Ejiofor) are the men getting paid by the state to stop him. Only nothing seems to be going according to the bank robbery handbook. The crooks make demands that don`t fit, they dress all the hostages in the same gear they`re wearing, and the owner of the bank is a little too keen to help out.

Enter feisty enigma Jodie Foster. It seems the owner of the bank has a secret locked up in there that needs keeping, and she`s the girl for the job. For Frazier and his partner, stopping the bad guys becomes secondary to working out the giant Rubik`s Cube before their eyes.

Inside Man was quite the hit at the box office, accumulating the biggest financial return of Spike Lee`s career.

Which was probably very nice for him.

Video

Inside Man looks great. Pin-point sharp visuals, with a strong colour balance.

During the movie, the narrative occasionally flash-forwards to the detectives interrogating the hostages from the bank. As an effect during these gritty scenes, the lighting goes through the roof, the contrast gets turned all the way up to 11 and they slap on some grain - the only grain you`ll see from this print.

Audio

Dolby Digital 5.1 in two flavours - English or Russian.

The English 5.1 is a good, clear audio track.

The music in Inside Man is good, if a little bizarre. The film opens with A. R. Rahman`s Hindi ditty, "Chaiyya Chaiyya" - an unusual choice perhaps, but it`s a beautiful song which fits remarkably well into the opening cavalcade of New York`s urban scenery.

During the movie, if you closed you eyes, you`d swear you`re listing to the score from a 60`s Bond film. At others, it`s blues-jazz meets a Michael Bay blockbuster. Like Harry Gregson-Williams got stuck in a bayou.

An out and outré score composition to be sure, but it fits the mood perfectly.

There are English subtitles on the disc, as well as a gamut of Euro-captions: Arabic ; Danish ; Dutch ; Finnish ; Hebrew ; Icelandic ; Swedish ; Russian and Norwegian.

Features

Nothing available for review - possibly nothing to review, says a little homework.

Conclusion

Spike Lee has polished the proverbial T-word. Who would have thought there was anything original and interesting to tease out of the seen-it-all-before `heist thriller` genre?

The casting is fantastic. Chiwetel Ejiofor (Serenity, Kinky Boots) is a revelation, a true star of the future, and it`s great to see him with such a prominent role in a mainstream picture. Jodie Foster (looking dazzling), Christopher Plummer and Willem Dafoe all support with the enthusiasm you`d expect from actors of their caliber. And Denzel... well, he`s Denzel.

Lee`s direction is superb. The pedant will argue this is no `Spike Lee joint`, but following on from `Summer Of Sam` and `25th Hour`, the world`s most famous Knicks fan proves again he`s perfectly comfortable working inside the studio system, delivering a film that is at once intelligent, savvy, pacy and witty, all wrapped up in a technically accomplished bow. Because he`s often praised for way he tackles issues, raises questions and his gung-ho attitude towards courting controversy, it`s easy to forget how fine a director he actually is.

Russell Gerwitz`s screenplay has all the hallmarks of a much more experienced writer. A tightly knotted plot, punchy characterisation and comical dialogue (without resorting to Tarantino-like story stalling) bring something a little bit special to the fold. There`s even a few moments of social commentary, from the treatment of Asians in post-9/11 New York, to children and violent video games.

It`s not all kittens and ice cream, though. Within the finely told story is a niggle - one character knows more than he logically could. Small, and relatively insignificant, but like a math problem that just won`t balance, you`ll be trying to make sense of it over the credit scroll.

Still, minor noggin scratching aside, a very fine film indeed.

Seemingly, it looks like someone forgot it was 2006, so all signs point to a DVD falling off the production line without so much as a set of film notes, so you`re not getting a whole lot for your 15 quid.

As is: a definite rental, a possible buy.