Review of Inside Man (2006) by Ryan K — 07 May 2013

Classic use of angles and shots by Spike Lee displaying NYC. Tight angled city block is the perfect setting for the action platform. Action inside the bank is constant on edge. Clive Owen is straight forward, and is convincing at his role.

Police-'hostage' interviews were an intriguing idea but were not perfectly executed due to script flaws and imperfect acting. It's nice to see Lee hasn't lost the use of race related situations no matter the screenplay or the seriousness of the matter.

The construction worker Kevin is played by talentless, over reaching and bravado oozing Al Palagonia who plays minor roles in most of Lee's films. Although he is a minor character I despise every time he shows up in his movies, especially knowing he gets the screen time for giving personal favors (Apollo Private Jets).

Russel Gewirtz's script is picaresque on a scene to scene action basis but lacks any real meaning. The montage of possible outcomes when the police were planning on entering the bank was quite imaginative.

The whole premise of the film relies on the final twist which is hardly a twist at all. The very ending is the most clever surprise that was in store and was actually a fortunate way to finalize the film The movie tries to be more then an action film but comes up short.