Inside Man: Not what you think...

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Vimu Subscription

Music Times - April 2006

Inside Man: Not what you think...

April 21st 2006 03:27

Probably Clive Owen's best

I thought that instead of writing about music today, it would be better to review the latest Spike Lee film, "Inside Man." Don't ask me why, but Cibbuano doesn't exactly touch on conventional films much, and Sara from Culture Guide seems to do it so i thought, why not?

Denzel Washington and some guy whose name I can't pronounce

I have to admit that previous to watching this film, I thought of Spike Lee simply as a director who made films for the mere sake of being controversial. I had seen the first five to ten minutes of 25th Hour, but either I was too caught up in Edward Norton's excellent acting or I didn't watch enough to make an adequate analysis of Spike Lee's ability to direct a film. Thus, watching "Inside Man" for the first time caught me by surprise when I realised that Spike Lee was capable of creating a rather conventional film, despite the occasional reference to racism or "colour commentary." "Inside Man," starring ever vigilant Denzel Washington and monotonal Clive Owen, follows a bank robbery in its entirety, from the entrance of the robbers to the aftermath of the conflict.

Who would suspect painters?

At points throughout the film, it seems almost like it came straight from Hollywood, but others contradict this - the fact that info is sparsely distrbuted throughout the film immediately points to the idea that it is not targeted at the average film goer. Without revealing the actual ending, the film has cut scenes to interviews between Denzel Washington, the negotiator for the robbery, and hostages in the aftermath of the robbery throughout. These cut scenes allow possible speculation about what could happen at the end, though gives no definite answer, and also provides the audience with a refreshing look into the personalities of the characters, both the investigators and the hostages, who become surprisingly involved in the film.

Not Enough William Dafoe

Overall, the film is excellent. It twists the cliched Hollywood bank robbery, with Spike Lee adding his own touch, from credits at the beginning of the film, to a particular film technique usually associated with depression or insanity utilised to portray Denzel Washington's anger at one point. However, the film also has its down points. Some of the scenes, while excellent, are inappropriately placed throughout the film and put the story out of whack. At the same time, the twist at the end, while I didn't guess it, was revealed way too slowly, which greatly decreased its effect on me at least. The film almost felt like Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at some points - like it ended four or five times. The final scene is extremely cliched and almost to the extent of horrible, like it doesn't belong in the film. Nevertheless, the film is an excellent watch, provided you concentrate and don't expect to be told everything, because you are warned - you have to fill in the blanks yourself if you're going to get the most out of the film.

Jodie Foster is almost creepy

Links:

Official Site

Inside Man Trailer

Vote

Subscribe to this blog

Email this post to a friend

Go to the Orble Music Channel

Start your own blog

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jimbo - Category: Artist Review

Related Posts:

Relate This Post

Submit a Post - Click Here [Posting Guidelines]

[ Previous - Oh the irony... ]

[ Next - Tigercity: Three guys, a keyboard and plenty of ti ]

Comments

1 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Dani

April 21st 2006 17:14

Yes this was quite an entertaining film, however the film should have ended earlier than it did as you mentioned.

What I really did not like during the movie was the scenes where by the 2 police officers question the 'suspects' one by one during different segments of the film. At first this seemed interesting and somewhat original, but then became annoying since the viewer ends up concluding that all the hostages escaped safely and either the 'villains' died alone (unrealistic) or escaped freely (with the money they were after).

I guessed the ending, however still enjoyed the movie throughout.

Recommended viewing!

[ Previous - Oh the irony... ]

[ Next - Tigercity: Three guys, a keyboard and plenty of ti ]

Add A Comment

To create a fully formatted comment please click here.

CLICK HERE TO LOGIN | CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Name or Orble Tag

Home Page (optional)

Comments

Notify me of replies

Notify extra people about this comment

Is this a private comment?

List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this comment

One per line max of 30

List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this private comment thread. Only the people in this list will be able to see or reply to your comment.

One per line max of 30

Your Name
(for the email going out to the above list, it can be different to your Orble Tag)

Your Email Address

(optional)

(required for reply notification)

Submit

October 2008

1 Posts

September 2008

1 Posts

August 2008

1 Posts