Inside Man
I had been looking forward to seeing Inside Man for quite some time. I like Spike Lee generally, and I have liked him from way before he became "accessible" to mainstream white America.
What I find now, though, is that his fiction movies are becoming less politicized. Not that that's a bad thing. And I wonder whether this stems from his greater involvement in documentary film-making in recent years. Perhaps now that he has an outlet for his political thoughts, he doesn't feel the need to bog down his fiction with it? It will be fascinating to see how he gets on with TV drama if his show about New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina comes to fruition.
Anyways, that's a whole other ball game. For now, let's talk about the movie at hand, which stars Brits Clive Owen and Chiwetel Ejiofor alongside heavywight Hollywood Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster. As much as I like Ejiofor, I was never a fan of Owen until Sin City and Closer. In both films he was a revelation, and I've come to quite like him now. He was good again in Inside Man.
This film combines several of my favourite things:
a heist plotline; a macguffin; a 1940s-type noir-inspired soundtrack, with shades of Herrmann and even Badalamenti.
Almost the whole of the plot is the heist, and I'd go on to say that this is a first-class heist picture. I wish Lee had left it at that. Because although I like macguffins, this one could have been dropped altogether, doing away with Jodie Foster entirely, and it would have been a far stronger picture. As it was, the last 15 minutes felt tacked on and a letdown after what was a blistering, exciting film up to that point.
That said, this is one of the best films I've seen in a long time, and it certainly deserves a place on my DVD shelf.
The scores
Acting: 16
Story: 16
Direction: 17
Enjoyment: 16
Involvement: 18
Total: 83
Labels: angelo badalamenti, bernard herrmann, chiwetel ejiofor, clive owen, denzel washington, heist, hurricane katrina, jodie foster, macguffin, new orleans, noir, spike lee
posted by DTW @ 12:41 PM
9 Comments:
I thought Inside Man was excellent, and I wasn't looking forward to it at all due to Jodie Foster's presence (she is dead to me after Flightplan).
But yes, the macguffin, as you call it, was lame, alme, lame, lame.
Great movie, this one really pleasantly surprised me. It was much more complex than a typical movie of this genre.
Good review.
I agree dude. The end was such a disapointment after a really great movie. Did it seem edited to you? When DW flips off banker dude at the end...that was fucking CGI man! WTF?
Red: I am glad you liked it too; it had been a tough sell!
Tony: I was surprised at how gripping it was throughout.
Tidy: Whoa, dude, long time no see. It was weird that flip-off, for sure. CGI? I don't know. But definitely weird.
Does it surprise you that I didn't like this movie at all...ha. I will think it didn't. But I do like surprising you every once in awhile.
Shea: No surprise, no! But at least you and I have more movies in common than I suspect Adam and I do... After all, I believe it was you who introduced him to The Usual Suspects. And what did you get in return? Ninja Turtles or something?! (Just kidding, Adam, if you ever stop by.)
i want to see this... i like the review. i'll have to let you know what i think when i get the chance to check it out.
I agree that this was a great movie. It seems that recently Lee does his best work when he's not trying to make some kind of statement. You might be right that the documentaries give him that outlet.
I thought the scenes with Foster were intriguing. I liked how mysterious she was and how everyone seemed to dislike her.
This was one of my favorite movies of last year.
Martha: I look forward to hearing what you thought.
Piper: Yeah, and I cam up with the "documentary outlet" theory all by myself! I'm quite impressed. One of my faves in a long while, I think, despite its flaws.
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