Inside Man

Starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe

Rated R

            There are few things more entertaining than a Spike Lee joint. From “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X,” two of the best films ever made, to “25^th Hour,” a small-scale story of New Yorkers, Lee’s movies are always joys to watch. “Inside Man,” although a vastly different Spike Lee joint, is no exception, with Denzel Washington starring in his fourth Lee movie (if Washington and Lee keep up their collaborations, they could become a De Niro/ Scorsese team-of-sorts.)

            Washington plays Keith Frazier, a New York detective investigating a robbery/ hostage situation at one of Manhattan’s largest banks. The thief inside of the bank is Dalton Russell (Clive Owen), who, along with a team of masked buddies, is out to execute the ‘perfect bank robbery.’ Frazier thinks he has a handle on the situation because he, like most of the audience, has seen “Dog Day Afternoon” and knows the criminals won’t come out alive.

            However, the situation is elevated to a more complex status when Madeline White (Jodie Foster) enters the scene, asking Frazier if she could personally have a word with Russell, the inside man. Frazier begins to think that this isn’t a bank robbery after all, and perhaps something much more elaborate involving millionaire Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer), the owner of the Manhattan bank.

            “Inside Man” plainly tells us that Russell is not executing a bank robbery, and the twist towards the end of the film is expectedly tricky. But Spike Lee keeps things surprisingly unpredictable with one of his most entertaining movies in a long time.

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