I've seen quite a few movies that deal with bank vault robbery. Once the contents are stolen the intelligence agencies get their balls rolling (no pun) and we're usually subjected to a cat and mouse game between the robbers and the intel. But what happens if the contents stolen belong to shady high profiles who want them to remain a secret. Of course none of them would go to police to give an itemized list asking for a fast recovery. They're going to find their own means of getting back what is lost. This movie, based on a true story that happened in London in 1971 is about corrupt cops and porn kingpins chasing an amateur gang that hits the jackpot with a bank vault robbery.
Terry Leather (Jason Statham) is a small time ex-con now running a used car shop, happily married with two kids. Martine Love, an old flame drops one day and offers a bank job. She says that the alarm system is deactivated and this might as well be an opportunity for a big league game. There's an ulterior motive that Terry doesn't know: Michael X, a self-claimed black Robinhood but actually a drug lord and a criminal of other sorts has photographs of a royal figure in compromising positions in one of those vaults and uses them as his immunity against prosecution. MI 6, the British secret intelligence service needs to get its hand on those photographs to press charges on Michael X and since they don't have a high-level clearance to directly get to his vault, they arrange for this heist.
I don't want to give away too many details about this high-class movie. For about first two thirds the director maintains a lightness that kept me engaged but also allowing me lay back a bit. But then the murder of a member of the heist sharply changes the tone - it's not a summer entertainer anymore, here's a serious story unfolding in unexpected way and I care about the characters. The underground businessmen are worried of their exposure, the crooked cops who've aided them all along are more worried, the good cops are helpless and the royal figures' decent image is at stake. The direction by Roger Donaldson is so fluent that one can sense the feelings and temperaments of each character without any effort at all.
For a crime drama there's a surprisingly good family scene in the movie. When Terry Leather gets home after the heist his wife slaps him with angst - not for his unlawful act but for an unfaithful act. There are only a handful of scenes that shows Terry with his family and in these few minutes the screenplay establishes how bound he is to his family. Now, that's rare for a movie that concentrates on a crime.
Terry Leather (Jason Statham) is a small time ex-con now running a used car shop, happily married with two kids. Martine Love, an old flame drops one day and offers a bank job. She says that the alarm system is deactivated and this might as well be an opportunity for a big league game. There's an ulterior motive that Terry doesn't know: Michael X, a self-claimed black Robinhood but actually a drug lord and a criminal of other sorts has photographs of a royal figure in compromising positions in one of those vaults and uses them as his immunity against prosecution. MI 6, the British secret intelligence service needs to get its hand on those photographs to press charges on Michael X and since they don't have a high-level clearance to directly get to his vault, they arrange for this heist.
I don't want to give away too many details about this high-class movie. For about first two thirds the director maintains a lightness that kept me engaged but also allowing me lay back a bit. But then the murder of a member of the heist sharply changes the tone - it's not a summer entertainer anymore, here's a serious story unfolding in unexpected way and I care about the characters. The underground businessmen are worried of their exposure, the crooked cops who've aided them all along are more worried, the good cops are helpless and the royal figures' decent image is at stake. The direction by Roger Donaldson is so fluent that one can sense the feelings and temperaments of each character without any effort at all.
For a crime drama there's a surprisingly good family scene in the movie. When Terry Leather gets home after the heist his wife slaps him with angst - not for his unlawful act but for an unfaithful act. There are only a handful of scenes that shows Terry with his family and in these few minutes the screenplay establishes how bound he is to his family. Now, that's rare for a movie that concentrates on a crime.
Labels: Heist, Jason Statham, Roger Donaldson
Inside Man - One Minute Revew
2 Comments Published by Prasad Venkat on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at 2:33 PM.
Slick. That is the word to describe this movie. At the outset, the movie is about bank robbery. The movie features a somewhat intelligent plot that covers the basics of heist genre, though it isn't the plot we're interested in. A gang of robbers take on a bank in Manhattan, hold it's clients hostages and ask for a plane to escape. We've heard it all before, and know that it isn't the way the story is going to unfold. Well, the progress of the screenplay doesn't throw much shocks or surprises, but it's all done very affably that you can't suppress having a smile for most of the running length. Take this dialogue exchange between the chief negotiator and the chief robber for example:
Cop: Don't say proposal, see, my girlfriend wants to get married.
Robber: What, you think you're too young to get married?
Cop: No, just too broke. Maybe I should rob a bank.
Robber: Do you love her?
Cop: Yes.
Robber: Then money shouldn't matter.
For a crime thriller, this movie has more than it's share of humour. With stars like Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster in front of the camera and the magnificent Spike Lee co-ordinating from behind the camera, you can take it for granted that there can be no false dialogue deliveries or fake expressions. In a classic cool scene, the robber asks one of his hostages, a young boy, about the video game he's playing. When he explains the objective of the game (Grand Auto Theft?), he ruminates for a moment and says "I'm going to talk to your dad about this game". The respectable Christopher Plummer plays a very dignified cameo as the chairman of the bank trying to protect a haunting past. Matthew Libatique, the photographer is just spot on - with so many symmetric shots and a fine balance of colours, it's a pleasure to see the scenes flow. Russell Gewirtz has done a commendable job writing the screenplay - the compliment is not for his plot (which is interesting, though, has a few logical fallacies) but for treating the audience to a fine entertainer. This could have been much more, but I'm not complaining.
Cop: Don't say proposal, see, my girlfriend wants to get married.
Robber: What, you think you're too young to get married?
Cop: No, just too broke. Maybe I should rob a bank.
Robber: Do you love her?
Cop: Yes.
Robber: Then money shouldn't matter.
For a crime thriller, this movie has more than it's share of humour. With stars like Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster in front of the camera and the magnificent Spike Lee co-ordinating from behind the camera, you can take it for granted that there can be no false dialogue deliveries or fake expressions. In a classic cool scene, the robber asks one of his hostages, a young boy, about the video game he's playing. When he explains the objective of the game (Grand Auto Theft?), he ruminates for a moment and says "I'm going to talk to your dad about this game". The respectable Christopher Plummer plays a very dignified cameo as the chairman of the bank trying to protect a haunting past. Matthew Libatique, the photographer is just spot on - with so many symmetric shots and a fine balance of colours, it's a pleasure to see the scenes flow. Russell Gewirtz has done a commendable job writing the screenplay - the compliment is not for his plot (which is interesting, though, has a few logical fallacies) but for treating the audience to a fine entertainer. This could have been much more, but I'm not complaining.
Labels: Crime, Denzel Washington, Heist, Spike Lee
