A bank robbery that turns out to be a hostage situation!  On the level, THE INSIDE MAN appears to be another one of those crime action thrillers than Hollywood churns out by the dozen.  NOT!  For one, THE INSIDE MAN is directed by Spike Lee, who despite not having a hit in the past decade or so, has never directed a commercial flick before.  Like Woody Allen’s MATCH POINT, Spike Lee’s (DO THE RIGHT THING, SCHOOL DAZE) INSIDE MAN is a pleasant, wicked surprise and a return to the director’s form.

The plot is the least of the film’s concern.  Director Spike Lee infuses the best of the racial nuances of NYC.  INSIDE MAN begins and ends with East Indian music.  A Pakistani security guard gets his turban pulled off while being called an Arab!  A cop has to renounce his words to repeat that he was held at gunpoint by an African American kid.  One of the African American kids play a game called “Kill da nigga!” An old lady is ordered to take off her dress at gunpoint and blatantly refuses.  “My supervisor is away and I am now the big dick!” says Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) to Captain John Darius (Willem Defoe).  And all these go on while the Chase Manhattan Bank gets robbed.  Lee knows how to create a tense scene, often unafraid to show violence when the gunmen mean business.  And writer Russell Gewirtz updates the bank heist film with problems with cell phones and multicultural issues. 

The film’s Publicity Department is wise enough to promote THE INSIDE MAN with its stars – Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster.  Both Washington and Owen are excellent but Jodie Foster steals every scene as, in the words of the city’s major (Peter Kybart), the magnificent ***censored***.  THE INSIDE MAN is the best commercial Hollywood flick to hit the screens this year.  And the story and plot is an added bonus.  Compelling, riveting and awesome!