Inside Man

Après un deuxième visionnage, je donne finalement 5 étoiles. Inside Man est un film aussi élégant que le costume dans lequel Denzel traverse des scènes finales. C'est un jeu de braquage de banque conscient, intelligent et drôle, qui n'a pas besoin de contenir de violence (et de voyous) pour avoir des couilles, et qui critique au contraire avec justesse la violence (un parallèle avec un jeu d'action sur l'écran de PSP d'un petit garçon noir). Les acteurs savourent chaque instant, Spike Lee et Brian Grazer (qui ont incroyablement maintenu un budget à 45 millions de dollars) sont des combattants, et le morceau de clôture « Chaiyya Chaiyya Bollywood Joint » est en parfaite adéquation avec les émotions du film. JEREMIE (21/02/2010)

Overcomplicated and yet unfinished. Spike Lee's storytelling style just doesn't sit well with me. After The 25th Hour, he once again failed to capture my attention in the first half, only to deliver an almost beautiful ending. This was mainly aided by the brilliant Clive Owen, and yet despite its omniscience and supposed lightness, this piece failed in a most striking way. (16/12/2006)

The perfect heist? Yeah, right! Rather, in terms of logic, a perfectly haphazard xth variation on the bank robbery. Logically leaky both in the point of the action of the robbers, however spectacular, and in the actions of the bank boss (who was he saving the compromising materials for?). The fact that Spike Lee once again stood his ground is a poor excuse. I was pleased with his subtle political allusions, although they were not nearly as strong as Norton's confession in 25th Hour, I was pleased with his sense of black humour, and although the film moves along briskly and doesn't get boring, I definitely expected more from a filmmaker with such a big name than just a wannabe spectacular and contrived story. (24/09/2006)

Spike Lee is a genius! A genre film thought out to the last detail, shot with clarity (Matthew Libatique's amazing cinematography, editing, the scene composition) and insight (wit, great allusions to the atmosphere of New York 5 years after 9/11). Thanks to the artfully inserted details, cuts, and masterful work with fabrication, the film is above all known standards. For the majority of the viewing public, it is an overly verbose and desperately inactive affair, but for those who can read between the lines of this most distinctive African-American in Hollywood's director's chair, they will understand that there is no robbery like a robbery and the sins of youth are not forgotten even after sixty years. Thanks, Spike! (25/08/2006)

Luckily Spike Lee hasn’t drowned in commercial waters and managed to film a very pleasant and intelligent picture that he worked some moments from his previous works into. The screenplay starts off with an excellent idea, which makes it all the more surprising that in the end it is the screenplay that is the weakest aspect of this movie, because it isn’t enough for over two hours of running time. Luckily this isn’t completely obvious when you are watching, thanks to Spike, the absolutely perfect casting and a very successful balancing on a knife’s edge between thriller and comedy. Overall, very good, but for me The Negotiator remains the “king" of this type of movie. (07/04/2006)