Rent Inside Man (2006)

Quite Good! - Inside Man review by CP Customer

I thought that overall, this was a good film. Denzel was great as always which made it a better film than it probably would have been otherwise. A clever plot, but not quite as clever as it was hyped up to be! it did keep you guessing till the end, but there were parts of the plot that were important but never explained, which I found frustrating! but apart from that, the film moved quickly and kept me interested all the way through.

Definately worth watching.

A film which thinks it is much more clever than it really is - Inside Man review by TB

Spike Lee is an interesting filmmaker. My favourite film of his that I have seen is still and always will be Blackklansman. But I did see this film first and my opinion on it hasn't changed since I first watched it: this is a film which really, really thinks its clever and loves itself.

This film will repeatedly, in a not-so-subtle way, reference how clever it is, winking at the audience. And after a while, I did get sick of that. As much as yes, there are some clever moments, having that put front and center again and again get very wearing after a while.

But there is much to like. The cast is great, especially Clive Owen. Even though Denzel Washington is the main protagonist, Owen dominates their encounters, either over the phone or face to face. Jodie Foster tries her best with what she is given, but sadly doesn't ever really break out of the manipulating lawyer cliché. The other really good actor is Chiwetel Ejiofor. His sidekick cop at times even outshines Denzel, and he does wonders with the thin, thankless role written for him.

In many ways, the script is the worst part of this film. Despite an interesting premise, much is squandered on smarmy narrative choices. But it still has some great moments and will keep you guessing in many ways until the end. A solid Friday night film in other words

I enjoyed it - but don't really know why - Inside Man review by RP

I enjoyed this, but frankly I'm not sure why. The story is silly – Clive Owen + friends commit the 'perfect' bank robbery. Denzel Washington is the detective trying to stop them. Other roles from Christopher Plummer (well acted), Jodie Foster (big name, silly role), Willem Dafoe (wasted). And a big name director (Spike Lee) as well.

All that talent – wasted. The plot is full of holes, Denzel Washington overacts so much he almost turns into Will Smith. The twist at the end seemed obvious to me. Luckily Clive Owen has his face covered most of the time, so the fact that he is a wooden actor doesn't show. But there were some lines that made me smile, and apart from a slow bit in the middle there was plenty of action. Like I said, I enjoyed it but don't really know why. I'll give it 3/5 stars – it's watchable.

Clever story, thought out a bit too clever - Inside Man review by CP Customer

Once again a great performance from Denzel Washington as a New York Detective. He is up against the perfect bank robbery. However, once the movie is over and you think it through, the plan is not so perfect after all - in real life the bank robber would have easily been caught. I'll leave it up to you to come up with various possibilities. And the connection between the bank robber and the bank owner, alltough crucial to the motivation of the robbery, is never revealed. I'll give it 4 stars anyway because of the funny and witty Denzel Washington and some good action scenes.

Interesting but an anti-climax - Inside Man review by AB

(Beware - some spoilers below) As others have stated, a very interesting film but the ending was a complete washout and the characterisation of Jodie Foster was simply a side issue that was not really relevant to the film overall - her character did nothing, influenced nothing, achieved nothing. Some holes in the plot (didn't they do a head count?) and why the hole/non-hole in the store room? I assume I know who the shot hostage was, and that was very clever as well.