Director: Spike Lee

Writer: Russell Gewirtz

Keywords: Crime, Bank Robbery, Hostage Situation, Nazis, New York

A New York City bank robber's heist dissolves into a fragile hostage situation involving a police detective and top-flight stockbroker.

ABSTRACT
Criminal mastermind Dalton Russell plans and executes an ostensibly foolproof robbery of a major Manhattan bank from a prison cell, making quick work of the facility's security system with the help of his gang and taking hostages if need be. Soon enough, however, the heist predictably devolves into a chaotic situation involving an area stockbroker and local authorities, lending itself to a highly personal tale examining the motives and unspoken troubles of the significant "actors" in the standoff over a twenty-four hour period of time.

[watch trailer]

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death	Known for
Willem Dafoe	Actor	22-Jul-1955		Last Temptation of Christ
Chiwetel Ejiofor	Actor	10-Jul-1974		Dirty Pretty Things
Jodie Foster	Actor	19-Nov-1962		The Silence of the Lambs
Daryl Mitchell	Actor	16-Jul-1965		Dexter Walker on The John Larroquette Show
Clive Owen	Actor	3-Oct-1964		The Bourne Identity assassin
Christopher Plummer	Actor	13-Dec-1929		A Beautiful Mind
Denzel Washington	Actor	28-Dec-1954		Training Day

REVIEWS

Review by anonymous (posted on 11-Jan-2007)

Used to be, a Spike Lee joint was a political and social statement from opening titles to final MPAA tag. Whether or not you agreed with Lee's politics, you had to admire his moxie and his ability to make a film around his beliefs. INSIDE MAN is not such a film. Oh, the political and social jabs are there...but they're blunt and useless. Even worse, they're pointless. Someone forgot to tell Mr. Lee that he was making a silly, action-less, lustreless bank heist film and not, well, any of his other films. INSIDE MAN plays like a particularly cheesy episode of an old 70s TV cop drama, complete with overly dramatic (and bombastic) 70s TV cop drama score. Interesting characters are introduced, developed a little, and cast aside in the frenzied effort to make this uninteresting caper something that it's not: a commentary on conscience, morality, and business ethics. Even the more than occasional accusation that the NYPD, in this post-9/11 world, hate anyone with a turban is never explored beyond the same old perjorative. Ultimately, the film ends and the viewer is forced to pronounce it as the dirtiest of all words to describe a Spike Lee joint: Silly. (D+)

Have you seen this film? We would love to see your review. Submit your review for this film

Do you know something we don't?
Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile

Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications