runnerbird:: pop culture geek. html guru. humorist.

Last Saturday, something funny happened in a my living room couch. I was actually required to think in a mainstream Hollywood thriller. *GASP* I was shocked. I even sat through the commercials. Spike Lee’s Inside Man is clever, slick, (street) smart bank heist film that twists, turns and swerves its way through a perfect crime. Like most movie-goers, I have come to expect next to nothing from most commercial, star-driven vehicles. There will be explosions. There will be a female co-star in a tight-fitting, low-cut top romancing an actor probably old enough to be her father. And there will be a plot any reasonably intelligent audience member will be four steps ahead because the writers must lead us through the plot as if we were a five year old on our first field trip to the park. “Hold hands, boys and girls, we are about to walk through the magic garden of mediocrity. Behold the wonder of generic conventions and one-dimensional, stock characters. Watch out for the plot holes.” So, it was a refreshing surprise to sit through Inside Man and not have my intelligence insulted for two hours. Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, William Defoe and rising star Chiwetel Ejiofor turing in crisp, poised and thoroughly New York performances was only the icing on this layer cake.

With his chiseled, weather-worn face and a voice saturated with calm and intellect, Clive Owen plays criminal master mind Dalton Russell, a conundrum of a man who is civil, courteous and violently harsh, but he possesses a fortitude that makes him a positively perfect anti-hero. In a word, he speaks the truth. In this corrupt, ugly, merciless world called New York City, the truth is more valuable virtue than faithfulness to the letter of the law. Dalton is perfectly summed up by his own words, “My name is Dalton Russell. Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully and I never repeat myself.” It is a voice that speaks with directness and legitimacy, a voice that you would believe if he said “everything will be okay.”

Denzel Washington is effortless in his role as the hard-nosed New York detective. You get the feeling he has seen it all, heard it all, and probably done it all. With a possible corruption wrap looming over his head, Keith Frazier seems thoroughly unfazed. Did he take the money? Is this a frame-up job? It almost doesn’t make a difference. Detective Frazier has an undeniable edge, a toughness, like he isn’t above beating a confession out of a perp. When Dalton and Keith finally go toe to toe, there is begrudging degree of respect, as if these two characters were cut from the same world-weary cloth.

Then, there is Madeline White played with ice-water toughness by Jodie Foster. Madeline is a problem solver for hire sort of like Harvey Keitel’s character in Pulp Fiction, but with bigger shoulder pads. As Foster herself said, she is the sort of person a Senator would hire if he suddenly found himself in a hotel room with a dead hooker. The film gradually reveals itself, not as a simple heist, but as a morality play where all the players are different shades grey. Madeline and those she represents are the darkest hues of the bunch. Madeline symbolizes the frightening arrogance only millions of dollars can buy. The idea that no problem can’t be fixed, no sin is too great that can’t be erased or absolved by a few suitcases of cash. Madeline speaks in a direct, icy tone, but the words flowing from her tongue like soft notes of a lullaby cut with the precision of a freshly sharped knife. Yet, her words are meant to be anything but direct. She chooses her words carefully to protect the damning truth for those willing to pay. Her greed is a business while Dalton’s greed is a crime.

Those coming into Inside Man with expectations of explosions and one-liners exchanged between gunshots will be sorely disappointed. Inside Man is deft, clever character-driven piece in the guise of a bank heist thriller. It is thoroughly New York to the bone, which is probably why I love it more than I should.

Browse Timeline