Movies

Inside Man Review

Basically, Inside Man is a bank robbery movie, in the lines of Dog Day Afternoon, Heat, or any one of dozens made in the past 100 years. Bank robbers storm a bank and get trapped before they can escape with the loot. So it becomes a story of how will it end? Will they go out in a blaze of glory or surrender and accept time in the big house? Clive Owen is one of Hollywood’s up and coming actors and he looks to replace greats like Denzel Washington, who also stars in this movie. Unfortunately, Owen spends most of the time wearing a mask and so his talent is wasted in a lot of scenes. Washington does very well, even though the script doesn’t really let him explode on the movie screen like he did in Training Day. Still, he commands the scenes he is in and helps the story roll on. Jodie Foster character feels like it is tacked on to allow an actress get some time in what is a pretty good bank heist. She is parachuted in, does little to nothing to resolve the situation, and then leaves. She does a good job while on screen, but the role was an odd one. Based on the trailers and other hype I’d heard, I was expecting a movie more like Usual Suspects or Shawshank Redemption. Basically, I was expecting a big twist at the end. Unfortunately for me, this movie was more like Gene Hackman’s Heist in 2001. It was sadly predictable and I had the whole heist figured out within 30 minutes. Despite this, it is still enjoyable escapism and worth the price of admission.