By Jan Stetter
Queen City Forum Magazine staff
There are 50 people on an ordinary day in New York doing their banking. It looks like any other day at a Manhattan bank – people depositing money, people withdrawing money and clerks assisting customers acquiring money. There are the endless lines and annoying people. There are cell phones, iPods, security cameras and bank tellers. One moment customers begin their day as usual. The next minute those same people become prisoners who have been stripped of their freedom and held against their will – inside the bank.
Inside Man stars Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. Jodie Foster and Willem Dafoe are the other big names that will draw mainstream audiences to this movie. Yet, telling a story involving a bank robber, six co-conspirators, 50 hostages, one sophisticated female broker, two hostage negotiators and all of New York’s Finest makes this movie have an ensemble feel to it.
Do not be fooled by the lengthy cast of characters. Denzel Washington owns this movie. He plays police detective Frazier who is assigned to negotiate the hostage situation at a downtown Manhattan bank. His partner, newcomer Chiwetel Ejiofor, holds his own as a young protégé being groomed in the art of high stakes hostage negotiations.
This thriller moves quickly between scenes of the captive hostages, the negotiators and interviews of several hostages after their release, helping the audience figure out the why of this robbery where no money is even stolen.
Inside Man is Spike Lee’s most recent success. From the opening music score to the finale where the cast of characters are identified, one can appreciate the art of diversity and how very natural Spike Lee makes it seem. Those diverse faces are what give Inside Man a true feel for an eclectic New York with attitude. The performances capture the frailty and anger of loosing one’s freedom and succumbing to the possibilities of death for no other reason than being at the right place at the wrong time.
No doubt a Spike Lee trademark, the film has short, very quick social vignettes that the characters play out. Stereotypes and cultural stigmas are presented and, at times, proven true. It is that kind of intelligent slant on the reality of people coexisting that is inadvertently present yet never preachy in this film.
Inside Man has everything: elaborate bank robbery, clever cat-and-mouse game and an ensemble performance led by Clive Owen on the inside of the bank and Denzel Washington on the outside of the bank. The only thing missing is the popcorn. Better make it a big tub – this one’s a winner.
