saw the 'inside man' tonight

[anxi80]

well, i got a chance to catch the new spike lee movie starring a few oscar heavyweights and since the previews kind of intrigued me i thought id check it out. pretty much the basic storyline is clive owen and his group of similiar attired robbers take over a manhattan bank and barricade themselves in with a good number of hostages. but unlike the phrase "in and out like a robbery", painting himself and his crew into a corner is all part of the master plan. denzel washington plays a detective just doing his job but trying to make some sense of it all. jodie foster plays a powerful woman with powerful connections trying to end the situation quickly and quietly.

the movie was pretty good in my opinion. its not without its faults but as far as the storyline goes and the fact that clive owen plays a cool bad guy, similiar to michael mann "bad guy" characters, id have to rate this movie a B-. the movie is a shade over 2 hours but its one of those movies that an hour into it you feel like you've been there for 3 already. not saying thats a bad thing, but its just a movie that seems to take awhile.

the good: the movie jumps right into the story/action, no drawn out set-ups or anything like that. also, it has some good lines of humor sprinkled in. its not a comedy per se, but the moments meant to be funny connect. another good thing i like is this movie makes you think a bit. i got peppered with questions by my friend upon exiting.

the bad: ending is drawn out a bit long. just when you think all the loose ends are tied up, it keeps rolling. also, the cinematographer of this film uses a a lot of rotating camera movements and such. usually this kind of stuff doesnt bother me, for example the 'shaky' camera' used in "bourne supremacy" didnt bother me but in this flick it started to get to me after awhile. also, race issues get touched on a few times here but i will admit that i did like the potshot taken at 'fiddy' in the movie.

overall, i didnt feel like i wasted my time but i didnt exactly feel like it was going to be in any of my top 5 lists when the year is out. but more than likely i will do a repeat viewing when it hits dvd. by the way, i hope denzel is done playing a cop. not that he's necessarily bad at it, but c'mon dude! "training day", "out of time", "inside man"...

 

[Liviathan]

I want to check this out....thanks for the review.

 

[ZOOYUKA]

I wanted to see it until I found out Spike Lee did it. His movies are terrible!

 

[Lorax]

was not aware it was a spike lee movie... it looks pretty "mainstream thriller" from the previews though.

 

[torpid]

What about the social commentary? Allegedly there is some, but it is not as prominent as in many of his films. I think he's been doing a lot of good work recently, actually. The 25th hour was one of my favorites from that year, for example.

 

[anxi80]

Originally posted by: torpid
What about the social commentary? Allegedly there is some, but it is not as prominent as in many of his films. I think he's been doing a lot of good work recently, actually. The 25th hour was one of my favorites from that year, for example.

yes, there is a bit. and of course, it relates to race. its not too prevalent in the movie though, just a comment here and there. probably comes up around 4-5 times, which to some people may be 4-5 times too many. but it is different than your average spike lee movie. it has a little bit of that brian grazer touch to it, especially since he produced it.

 

[EvilYoda]

curse you! I've been waiting for this movie since the moment I read the cast listing and that it was directed by Spike Lee...

I have to wait a whole 3 days. bah.

 

[anxi80]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
curse you! I've been waiting for this movie since the moment I read the cast listing and that it was directed by Spike Lee...

I have to wait a whole 3 days. bah.

you think thats sucks?! you know how badly i want to discuss this movie??!?! i cant do it unless i talk to my friend who i took, and she walked out afterwards asking a million questions so there goes that conversation.

it was pretty funny though, at the last sneak preview i went to they just let me in. its been awhile since i last went to one and for this one they searched me before going in and had a couple security guards at both sides of the theatre to make sure no one was recording the movie. also another funny thing, the local radio station/theatre gives out free stuff (hats, tickets, gift certificates) at these things to people watching the movie for free. if you pay for a movie though, you get jack squat. figured theatres would treat their paying customers instead of us freeloaders.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: Lorax
was not aware it was a spike lee movie... it looks pretty "mainstream thriller" from the previews though.

I didn't know that either. It doesn't even seem like a Spike Lee film. He is usually very afro-eccentric in his films. I am still going to see it, it looks good. But Larry The Cable Guy looks pretty funny. So its double duty for me this weekend.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Saw it tonight, definitely not the typical Spike lee movie. I liked it quite a bit, despite it's flaws.

:thumbsup: x 2

 

[ghostman]

When I first saw the trailer in theaters, I thought this was another one of those entertaining/dumb thrillers that would fade from theaters in a few weeks. But then I saw the freshness rating at Rotten Tomatoes (currently at 89% with 115 reviews). Now I'm kind of anxious to see it. Not to mention, I saw it being filmed across the street from where I worked last year.

 

[drum]

I just got back from it. I enjoyed it. I wasn't expecting the amount of funny parts. Not to mention the Mayor telling jodie Foster how magnificent she is.

 

[anxi80]

Originally posted by: drum
I just got back from it. I enjoyed it. I wasn't expecting the amount of funny parts. Not to mention the Mayor telling jodie Foster how magnificent she is.

"...and thats not a pina colada you're slurping on." :laugh:

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: anxi80

Originally posted by: drum
I just got back from it. I enjoyed it. I wasn't expecting the amount of funny parts. Not to mention the Mayor telling jodie Foster how magnificent she is.

"...and thats not a pina colada you're slurping on." :laugh:

Section 34DD
Jose and Tyrone (I think)
"I'm going to have to have a talk with your father"

Great movie

 

[kurt454]

I liked it. Good movie.

 

[anxi80]

Originally posted by: NFS4
Section 34DD
Jose and Tyrone (I think)
"I'm going to have to have a talk with your father"

Great movie

when i first saw that kid the first thing that came to my head was: "nick cannon? who's nick cannon?" "dad, he's sooo hilarious!" "man.. f*ck you son! what, your going to tell your mom? tell her im cussin' in the house!?"

 

[fustercluck]

I wasnt aware it was a Spike Lee movie either, until i saw "A Spike Lee Joint" in the intro. It was a good movie, nothing really memorable, but enjoyable to watch. Any movie that has 89% on the Tomatometer can't be too bad

I like Clive Owen a lot, and I like Denzel a lot, even though they seem to play themselves in most movies.

 

[SilentZero]

It was ok, but don't think it deserved the great reviews it recieved.

 

[Killerme33]

I agree with most of what the OP said. I liked the movie, there wasn't that much racial stuff. The humor was good, thrown in at the right times, but not overdone. I didn't like the numerous endings tho, it got very confusing exactly what was happening. Also (trying not to give away spoilers) I didn't like how while they were dealing w/ the sitation it had flashfowards (is that a word)...you know what I'm talking about if you've seen it.

Overall: 8/10

 

[NFS4]

BTW, did anyone else love Spike's trademark in the film? After a certain "incident" happened in the movie and Denzel slides towards the camera. Seeing as how I have never seen a spike lee movie all the way through, this was my first time seeing this in use. I absolutely LOVED that effect

 

[Svnla]

I saw it and it was not bad at all. Some of the things that I din't like:

Spoilers*****

The Captain told Denzel to drop the case yet he still followed it. That's a no no in real life, especially for cops.

He also went to the banker office and verbal abused him and then to meet Foster and the judge , I am sure that not possible in real life. Too much "movie cliches and only in movie situations".

Also, it is a bit long at the end and too much "feel good" touchie feelies <the small diamond in the pocket>. Other than that, it was a decent movie. I love the "jail" reference at the beginning and then you know why at the end. Love the humor and stuffs like that <violate the 34DD code and the young cop eyes>

 

[Bumrush99]

I love Spike Lee. I thought the movie was excellent, Jodie Foster looked great and Denzel stole the show.

Anyone ever see Summer of Sam? Probably my favorite Spike Lee movie

 

[toekramp]

Originally posted by: NFS4
BTW, did anyone else love Spike's trademark in the film? After a certain "incident" happened in the movie and Denzel slides towards the camera. Seeing as how I have never seen a spike lee movie all the way through, this was my first time seeing this in use. I absolutely LOVED that effect

that was quite possibly one of the worst moments in film. so ridiculous, the movie as a whole pretty much sucked. it did have it's moments.

c-

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: toekramp

Originally posted by: NFS4
BTW, did anyone else love Spike's trademark in the film? After a certain "incident" happened in the movie and Denzel slides towards the camera. Seeing as how I have never seen a spike lee movie all the way through, this was my first time seeing this in use. I absolutely LOVED that effect

that was quite possibly one of the worst moments in film. so ridiculous, the movie as a whole pretty much sucked. it did have it's moments.

c-

I'm glad you're in the minority. Most people liked it (critics and moviegoers) and it racked up $29 million this weekend.

As for that moment, it was so unnerving and shocking to see it at that point, but it perfectly showed his anger and fire.

 

[toekramp]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: toekramp

Originally posted by: NFS4
BTW, did anyone else love Spike's trademark in the film? After a certain "incident" happened in the movie and Denzel slides towards the camera. Seeing as how I have never seen a spike lee movie all the way through, this was my first time seeing this in use. I absolutely LOVED that effect

that was quite possibly one of the worst moments in film. so ridiculous, the movie as a whole pretty much sucked. it did have it's moments.

c-

I'm glad you're in the minority. Most people liked it (critics and moviegoers) and it racked up $29 million this weekend.

As for that moment, it was so unnerving and shocking to see it at that point, but it perfectly showed his anger and fire.

I really enjoyed the first 45 mins or so, save for a few parts. When he finds the phone on the bank manager, and then closes himself into that office and pretends to argue with himself over what to do I was like...uh, wtf. However, like you stated, the majority of the audience found this highly entertaining. The rotating shots I never enjoy, always bring on a bit of nausea. And the end was so long and drawn out, I felt like I was watching LOTR.