Inside Man
Spoiler alert the “x meets y” summary I offer at the end of this review might constitute a spoiler, but the very existence of Christopher Plummer’s character in the screenplay kinda gave it away to me anyway – anyway, just a little heads up to whom it may concern …
I have to give this movie 4 stars, ‘cos I really can’t think of any reason why I shouldn’t. But like a handful of slick thrillers that manage to sneak their way around my kooky ratings system without being anything particularly special, this one won’t be knocking around my memory for long. This is one of those movies that convinces you it’s about a lot of things, is confusing, etc, while really, it isn’t. But you have to admire the cast Spike Lee has assembled, the age-old cinematic beauty of watching the perfect crime unfold, and Terence Blanchard’s score is a stunner (side-note: I’d love to hear this guy do a Bond score … move aside David Arnold! That’s two composers I have to replace you now!)
It’s a little misleading for me to point out that this is the best film I’ve seen so far this year, because it’s only the third 2006 release I’ve seen, lol, for shame; but I imagine it’ll be staying high up on my list to the end. It’s pretty much Dog Day Afternoon meets a little Marathon Man with the unmistakable Spike Lee edge, and I’ll likely watch it again, but, like I said, altogether a fast food movie experience.
June 13th, 2006 at 2:36 am
[...] Noticing that this one was directed by Paul McGuigan, who directed Wicker Park – which I loved, but still need a number more viewings to get my head entirely around – I knew I might need patience to get through it. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, it lost me well within the first 10 minutes. The movie is quality, for sure, and like Inside Man it has an impressive cast. But its seeming sheer perfection is almost ultimately boring; the convoluted plot doesn’t help, even for a viewer who’s prepared for a last minute, revelatory, “OH so THAT’s what it meant!” à la Wicker Park; and ultimately the whole thing long outstays its welcome. [...]
June 26th, 2006 at 9:29 am
[...] It’s nearly the end of June and I’m gonna do a halfway list of my fave songs of the year so far. Luckily I got to hear the new Smoosh and Prussian Blue CDs this past week so I have plenty of stuff to choose from. Needless to say, I’m not gonna be doing the same for movies as I might have in the past. I’ve still only seen five 2006 movies so far this year, lol, and only one of those, Inside Man, is one I’d be comfortable seeing in my top 10 at the end of the year – even that would be a tad disappointing. I’m still gonna try and at least bring my total up to 10 so I can at least set up the page for this year’s list (silly rule I have – I don’t start the current year’s movie list page till there’s at least some form of top 10; just as I don’t intend to start previous year’s pages till there are 100 – which may sound even sillier, but I’m pretty close to that for most years going back to 1990). [...]
August 23rd, 2006 at 12:38 am
[...] Inside Man Spike Lee [...]