[mofo196]

I believe it was Dane Cook who said that one of the things a man would want more than sex is to be part of a heist. My girlfriend is convinced this is true (and in all honesty it is) with all the heist movies and shows I tend to watch. With that in mind, along with a true love of a good heist movie I went to see Spike Lee's Inside Man today. I am going on record as saying it is one of the finest films I've seen all year if not the best.

One of the problems with reviewing a movie like this is giving away too much of the plot. Anything I could accidentally drop would truly ruin your experience. I will say this though. Inside Man is one of the finest examples of a heist plot with a few twists and turns along the way that I never saw coming. Truly surprising ones that at no time made me question their validity. Almost everything presented is credible without the usual †œoh pleaseââ‚Ã⠀šÃ‚¬Ãƒâ€š? moments a movie like this can sometimes have.

So what can we talk about then? Performances and direction. Spike Lee is a master (with few exceptions like Bamboozled) of his chosen format. A heist movie tends to focus on action and not the dialog. Here things are a bit different. The dialog is the best part and some of the most natural spoken interaction since Pulp Fiction. This, combined with Spike's fast-paced direction make for a very easy to watch film. If you're wanting a movie with lots of guns and explosions, this isn't for you. In fact, I think there's a total of one gunshot in the whole thing. What you will get is a movie that will cause discussion afterwards (a thing too rare in today's American Cinema). The kind of discussion where people can question the motivation of the characters and have multiple, yet still correct, beliefs.

The movie is absolutely carried by Denzel Washington who seems at his best when under the direction of Lee. Anyone who has seen Mo Better Blues knows exactly what I'm talking about. Clive Owen also gives a stellar performance. In fact, he gives a little speech before the opening credits that is simply amazing.

Sorry to not get into the plot, but trust me you're going to enjoy this movie. It's smart and a lot of fun. Most movies today are either one or the other, but rarely both.