April 8, 2006


  • movie I've seen recently...

    Inside Man (2006)  C+

    As a caper movie, Spike Lee's "Inside Man" succeeds in keeping me guessing at what's going to happen. Things were kept as mysterious as can be, and I was pretty impressed at how the whole caper was orchestrated by Dalton Russell (Clive Owen). But the mysteriousness of the characters is where I believe the movie falters, as the lack of depth among the people in the movie makes it hard for me to empathize with what's going to happen to them.  Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) was probably the only character I actually cared about, but even then I wasn't too investment in him either. I suppose the lack of knowledge on who the characters were, is part of the theme of the film about how we can't judge people by their outside appearance. I did like how Spike Lee played on people's reactions towards the situation they were dealt with, and about their perceptions on other ethnic groups.

    The musical score I thought was a bit lacking and out of place at some points, while some visual tricks that they used for the film felt unecessary (that spinning around motion got on my nerves). The film also felt longer than it probably should have, and the payoff I thought wasn't as good as I wished it was. Even though I've listed several complaints, I did enjoy the movie. Once again, as a caper movie, it's totally okay and I can easily recommend it. Will it be something I'll remember in the near future though? Probably not.