Last weekend, got to cut loose and go see a movie in the theater. While the movie in my feature "What I'm looking forward to seeing" is out ("Thank you for Smoking"), I just was not in the mood for that really. Instead, we went to "Inside Man".
For those of you who accuse me of hating everything, you're not going to like this review. "Inside Man" is directed by and stars a couple of people whose works I could definitely say I hated - until recently. Opinions change, and this movie has helped change my opinion of both of them.
Inside Man was directed by Spike Lee. I've never liked Lee's movies. His films have historically been ethnocentric, which is fine, but his carried it to a bit of an extreme. Most of his movies might as well have been called "White people won't get this", "How white people keep my people down", or perhaps just "Kill Whitey". Recently, though, he seems to be breaking out of that. "25th Hour", one of his more recent films, was a definite departure for Lee and was actually pretty interesting. I don't know if I'd call it good, but it was interesting. Inside Man is a big departure, and Lee acquits himself well with this film.
One of Lee's favorite actors to cast is Denzel Washington. Until recently, Denzel would probably have gotten my vote for Most Overrated Actor. The guy plays the same character no matter what the movie. No range, no variation, maybe just 4 or 5 facial expressions. But he gets constant praise. I never could understand why, other than a crapload of women swoon at the mere mention of "Denzel" - which in of itself I don't really get. However, my opinion of Denzel has been changing already due to some films he has been in that I genuinely enjoyed - particularly "Man on Fire" and "The Manchurian Candidate". Both remakes, but well done ones.
Anyhow, on to Inside Man: The movie was excellent. As I've said, Spike Lee and Denzel both manage to overcome my dislike of them by putting in good work. Denzel manages to actually create a fairly believable and likeable character. Lee creates a movie that doesn't entirely revolve around race, and in fact brings up some ethical questions - albeit fairly easy ones. Clive Owen plays his usual kind of snearing character bad-guy-who's-not-so-bad. I actually rather like Clive Owen, although I recognize he isn't the greatest thespian around. Jodie Foster gets a key role that is practically custom-tailored to her talents, and gets some of the best lines aside from Denzel - especially near the end. Christopher Plummer and Willem Dafoe, perhaps the two most talented actors in this thing, turn in excellent supporting performances.
The movie is a bit long, at just over two hours, and there are some spots where it drags a little, but overall it keeps the interest going and has a good plot and good writing. There were two things that really ticked me off, though. One is a plot point involving a racist cop that doesn't fit at all and is just designed to move along the fairly long movie. The other follows immediately after, and it is a stereotype I really hate in movies - The Hothead SWAT Captain. You see, whenever SWAT gets portrayed in movies, there's always the Hothead SWAT Captain whose solution to the whole thing is use his snipers to take out the targets they can see and send "my boys" in guns a-blazing to take down the baddies, and there's always Levelheaded Detective/Negotiator there to keep him in check. I've known some SWAT guys, and nothing could be further from the truth. If SWAT is there, it's because the situation is dangerous and probably lethal. The last thing they want is shots fired, by either side. What's most annoying in this movie about Hothead Captain is that he suddenly gets this way an hour and a half into the movie. WTF?
So yeah, in a nutshell: couple minor plotpoints that sucked, but overall a very good movie that helped raise my opinion of an actor and a director I have long hated.
Mattbear out.
3 comments:
I agree with you on this one. I too enjoyed The Inside Man, but I thought William Dafoe was underutilized. Regardless it's an enjoyable film if you can get past the fact that Christopher Plummer's character would have to be around 100 years old.
I never hated Spike Lee and Denzel Washington all the time. I have hated some of their work, such as Girl 6 and Jungle Fever, but I found them hit and miss at best.
What I did enjoy about the scenes where Spike did bring up race is that he seemed to mature and take the side that class has more to do with prejudice than race, although I will admit I may be looking too much into it.
No, you're right on the money about that. Lee was recently quoted as saying, "Before, I used to think that everything was based on race. Now class matters just as much. If you are a poor person: black, white, Latino, whatever, the Bush Administration does not have your best interests at heart. If the Government thought poor people mattered, the response [to Katrina's disaster] would have been much quicker."
I think this idea showed through in "Inside Man".
Count me in as one of those fellow-haters.
However, I also enjoyed this movie and thought it was a great departure for Spike X.
Post a Comment