Inside Man (2006)

Location: Maxi-Saver
Seen Before: No
Rating: 4.5

When first seeing the previews for this months ago, I immediately brushed it off as "every other film Denzel has made in the past ten years." When the raves came in, though, I figured everyone couldn't be getting it wrong.

Granted, I haven't seen a ton of 2006 releases, because, for the most part, they look worthless. Inside Man, however, really surprised me and I can safely and enthusiastically rank it as one of this years best (so far). Spike Lee keeps his film from falling into the territory of other crummy hostage thrillers by making sure Denzel's character isn't at the top of his game--he's not an all-star coming into the situation like he's king.

The only problem I had was with Jodie Foster's character and her under-development; her coming in with not only the know-it-all 'tude, but the fact that she actually knows it all is more or less a screenwriter's cop-out. That aside, the film provides enough interesting twists, turns, and layers that it deserves at least one or two revisits.