2008 Woodie Awards
Getting inside the movie: Inside Man
Adrienne Smith, Staff Writer
Issue date: 3/29/06 Section: Entertainment
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It's a story of a bank robbery but not your average "Point Break," "The Real McCoy," "Oceans 11"- type robbery movie. It is directed by Spike Lee and in his style, there has to be some underlying human interest story to it.
There is a lot going on in this film, so much that if you left to go to the bathroom you could have missed an important clue.
It was a perfectly planned robbery. They entered the Manhattan Trust Bank dressed as painters and took everyone inside hostage.
Clive Owen plays Dalton Russell, the head robber of four and is the mastermind behind the stunt. They stripped the hostages of their cell phones, keys, and clothing; and made them all put on painter suits with masks. In doing so the hostages were dressed exactly like them and the only thing that set the robbers apart was that they had the guns.
You find out later, that they made them all wear the same clothes so that no one would know who was who. This made it hard to identify them and everyone appear as a suspect to police.
Denzel Washington plays Keith Frazier, the lead detective who has a little to lose of his own. In his last case a large sum of money came up missing from a cocaine bust; he is accused of stealing it, which puts his promotion on hold until the money is returned.
Christopher Plummer plays Arthur Case, the owner of the bank, and when he catches wind of the robbery he contacts Madeline White, played by Jodie Foster to protect his interests inside that particular branch.
Turns out his interest lies in a safety deposit box and he will pay dearly to have it protected. White offers Frazier a deal in order to get inside and reason with Russell.
"Inside Man" is a cat and mouse thriller, where you are trying to figure out everyone's motives and the good as well as the bad characters have hidden agendas.
Psychologically, the film shows power struggles between each of the characters: Frazier and Russell, Russell and White, White and Frazier, and Case and Russell. Lots of mind games are going on and people are being tested. How far will they go to get what they want, and what is it each of them desires?
I don't want to give too much away to anyone who wants to go see it, as it is a mystery.
The film ends how it begins with the robber, Russell Dalton introducing himself to the audience, stating that he was imprisoned and giving a brief synopsis of his well thought out plan.