'Inside Man' Is Suspenseful Crime Drama
BY ROSE WHITNEY

Atypical of several of director Spike Lee's prior films which characteristically addressed the social and political issue of race relations, "Inside Man" focuses instead on the more mundane topics of bank robbery and hostage taking. However, this is definitely not the average bank robbery-surprise revelations gradually surface throughout the film.

The plot begins with the dramatic takeover of the Manhattan Trust Bank located at 20 Exchange Place in the heart of the Lower Manhattan financial district. Several heavily armed perpetrators posing as painters enter and quickly gain control of the bank. Bank surveillance monitors are electronically deactivated, cell phones of all employees and customers are confiscated, and all hostages are forced to change clothes and don laborer overalls identical to those of the gunmen. Appropriately menacing, volatile, ruthless and a single-minded man on a mission, Clive Owen is completely convincing as Dalton Russell, the Shakespeare-quoting leader of the gang. Since we are offered no information as to his personal history, background, or motivation, the viewer is forced to speculate and form his own theories.

After Police Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) is assigned to monitor and coordinate the hostage situation, he meets police negotiator Captain John Darius (Willem Dafoe) and conflicting views of jurisdictional responsibility arise. Both Washington and Dafoe successfully convey the territorial issue, which is particularly relevant in these times of emergencies when the chain of command can determine whether a crisis is successfully resolved or becomes an even greater disaster.

It soon becomes evident that rather than the bank's money, the object of Russell's attention is the contents of safe deposit box 392, which is rented by the chairman of the bank's Board of Directors, Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer). In a desperate attempt to safeguard his property, Case enlists politically well-connected fundraiser and power broker Madeline White (Jodie Foster) to intercede on his behalf. Through her connections with the mayor, she is given access to the crime scene and is allowed to speak to Russell. During this meeting, information is exchanged which indicates that the safe deposit box contains incriminating information on Case's past life which could destroy his reputation and jeopardize his future. Foster is perfectly cast as the focused, pragmatic, cold, manipulative, no nonsense wheeler-dealer who allows no room for personal emotion or involvement.

In intermittent flashbacks throughout the film, several hostages are interviewed, and this offers some slight comic relief in a film that is otherwise serious and sobering. Since the hostages could not be physically distinguished from the perpetrators because of their identical clothing, Frazier is forced into the ludicrous position of having to interrogate some unlikely suspects, such as a middle-aged Jewish woman who is a bank employee.

"Inside Man" is the tale of a cleverly planned and executed crime told in a suspenseful and entertaining manner that features fine performances in all the main roles.