Acquired Tastes: Spike Lee's Inside Man

I finally got to watch Inside Man. I found it rather interesting that Spike Lee managed to come up with perhaps his most engaging and satisfying full length feature film by deliberately eschewing pointed social commentary about race and New York (save for one interlude between Clive Owens' character and a feisty African-American kid, and a breezy conversation between Denzel Washington and a beat cop) and concentrating on New York. The city comes alive with a genial nonchalance, and a quietly understated statement of fact. Much like the edgy charm of Frank Sinatra's paean to the Big Apple, Spike Lee's New York charms and challenges. You really get the impression that if you make it there, you can make it anywhere. But it's not up to you: it's up to New York.

All in all, Inside Man is a wonderfully light, satisfying heist flick that is certainly worth checking out, if only for Lee's rediscovery of the smooth, iconic visual charm of New York. For full details on the movie, click on IMDB.

Photo Credits:
Poster of Inside Man comes courtesy of WorstPreviews.