Inside Man

In most heist films the audience can determine whose side they’re on from the outset. That it is the guy on the right side of the law is not always a given. Cinema has provided numerous lovable rogues and criminals so brilliant they urge our endorsement. How could we not side with Paul Newman’s Henry Gondorff or Robert Redford’s Johnny Hooker? And George Clooney’s charming Danny Ocean just oozes appeal.

In fact to our subversive (and often perverse) minds it is usually the anti-hero to whom we are drawn not the hero; it’s easier to cheer on the ‘villain’ than the good guy.

But when a clever bank robber is facing off against one of modern cinema’s favourite sons – Denzel Washington – whose side are you going to be on?

That is the audience’s dilemma in Spike Lee’s drama, Inside Man.

Washington is Detective Keith Frazier, a hostage negotiator with the New York Police Department. When he’s not talking dirty to his girlfriend on the phone he’s angling for another promotion and a chance to prove himself. But with a corruption scandal hanging over his head, he is on shaky ground.

When four masked gunmen lay siege to the illustrious Manhattan Trust bank, Frazier and his partner Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) are handed their opportunity to show their worth. But it’s not long before Frazier realises all is not as it seems. The gunmen threaten violence but offer none. They make demands but allow deadlines to pass.

The audience know the heist to be orchestrated by Dalton Russell (Clive Owen). Yet for bank robbers, Russell and his gang seem to show little interest in the mountains of money at their disposal. They are more intent on confusing their hostages and confounding the police. Which they manage with aplomb.

With the arrival of the Mayor and well-connected power broker, Madeleine White (Jodie Foster) the situation becomes even more complex. Representing the bank’s founder and chairman Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer) White has her own agenda that she is reluctant to share with the police.

Directed by Spike Lee, Inside Man, is an intense thriller that manages its tension without car chases, excessive violence or wanton explosions. If there is anything gratuitous within the film it is the constant and confronting use of language which is extreme enough to earn the film an MA-rating.

In many ways Inside Man is a surprising film for Lee to take on. Unashamedly mainstream, it seems almost too accessible for a director whose films have focused on social commentary and inter-racial issues. Frequently startling, offensive and challenging, his films may not appeal to all but they are never bland.

Yet in other ways this is a film that appeals to Spike Lee’s sensibilities. He has long demonstrated his fascination for New York and its people – particularly their behaviours and their tensions. Written by New Yorker Russell Gerwitz, Inside Man is a film firmly based in the Big Apple and it has tension aplenty.

Though Inside Man belongs in a genre not known for its depth or reflection, there is a moral base to the tale. Strangely one of the guardians of morality is Dalton Russell himself. He takes issue with a violent and morally dodgy game one of his young hostages is playing, saying he will speak to the boy’s father. He bluntly tells Frazier to stop putting off marriage to his girlfriend. And of another character he claims the man has sold his soul and spent his life trying to buy it back. To refer in detail to the sin to which Russell refers would give too much away but that he makes such a comment is interesting. Like any other, this sin has scalded the heart of the person in question. But there is no repentance and little regret. And this man - like every other person on the planet - has no way of making himself right again.

With a tight script that is shrewd, witty and at times startlingly crude, Inside Man is an adept thriller than surpasses its genre.

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