Box Office Bank Robbers

At his wits’ end, Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) stands at the locked doors of a bank in the Big Apple. His patience has been tested. His nerves are on edge. At first, he assumed he was investigating an ambitious bank robbery, but things here just don’t add up. Staring through the glass doors, he shouts at the invaders inside, “This ain’t no bank robbery!”

Is it? Or isn’t it? That’s just one of the many puzzles presented to Frazier, his partner Bill (Serenity‘s Chiwetel Ejiofor), and the battalion of police piling up in the streets around the bank. Masked gunmen, led by a calculating self-proclaimed genius named Dalton Russell (Clive Owen), have sealed themselves inside with a cross-section of temperamental New Yorkers, and there’s no telling how far the alleged robbers will go to get what they want. But what do they really want? Money? Why is the mastermind so cool and confident, even when the building is surrounded?

Making matters worse for the cops, there are puzzles outside of the bank as well—like the mayor’s delivery of a mysterious professional named Madeline White (Jodie Foster), who won’t explain her credentials or function, but promises that if the police let her into the bank, she will help resolve the situation. Then there’s the head of the bank, Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer), who seems awfully agitated about having crooks snooping around in the safety deposit boxes.

No matter how Inside Man turns out, it’s clear early in the film who it is that walks away triumphant—director Spike Lee. Lee’s energy, intelligent humor, flashy visual style, and affection for New York’s multicultural population make him the perfect choice for the material. This may not be his most important film—I would argue that Do the Right Thing is still his masterpiece—but many viewers will agree that Inside Man is his funniest and most delightful. His actors are perfectly chosen, and their chemistry crackles and sparks as newcomer Russell Gewirtz’s screenplay gives them some good old-fashioned wit to work with. After a season of heavy-handedly political films, grim social commentaries, and burdensome tales of human depravity, here’s a reprieve: professional, engaging, smart, and thoughtful entertainment.

Some complain that the film portrays the bank robbers too sympathetically. But Lee uses them to highlight some notable ironies. The child of a hostage is playing a video game that is far more violent than anything related to the robbery. And as they draw near to the bank’s valuables, their misbehavior pales compared to more heinous crimes. The film is anything but amoral; Gewirtz’s story illustrates the old adage “Be sure your sins will find you out,” even though he’s more interested in graver sins than stealing.

Meanwhile, Lee uses this game of cops and robbers as a framework in which he can create memorable portrayals of New York spirit. As a result, the film comes off as a love note to the city, and to the people who are working together to rebuild and get along in spite of painful wounds, prejudice, and pressure.

Christian film critics seem generally impressed with Lee’s efforts.

Lisa Ann Cockrel (Christianity Today Movies) says it “offers beautiful people doing heroic and/or dastardly things, and throws in some vaguely expected twists and turns. But the movie bristles with life in the moments when the rub is just that—the rubbing together of people from different races and classes, each person bringing their own set of experiences and expectations to the table that is New York City. This is one of Spike Lee’s joints after all, and Inside Man is at its most interesting and entertaining when reflecting these tensions.”

Steven D. Greydanus (Decent Films) says it’s “smart … despite some gaping plot holes. And thanks to smart direction from Spike Lee, generally top-notch performances from a stellar cast, and pungent dialogue … it feels even smarter than it is.”

While he finds Foster’s character “underdeveloped both dramatically and conceptually,” he says the filmmakers “more than make up for this with the authenticity and freshness they bring to their other characters and their interactions. … In contrast to the hyper-polarized race relations of last year’s Crash, characters in this film talk about and express race and ethnicity in realistic and plausible ways.”

Christian Hamaker (Crosswalk) admits that the “morality is murky,” but praises the film as “compelling, watchable … with strong ensemble acting.” He also observes the film’s meaningful exploration of multiple themes. “Inside Man raises ethical questions about wealth and power, and it examines the consequences of past sins. It asks whether we can wash away our guilt by building a life of outward respectability. These elements give extra heft to this solid entry in the heist genre.”

David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) is also excited about it, calling it “arguably Lee’s most mainstream movie to date. But thematically, it is not so much a departure as it is a change of focus—more story, less soapbox—as Lee continues to explore race and corruption, managing to comment on everything from racial profiling and stereotypes to greed and the harmful effects of video-game violence.”

But Bob Hoose (Plugged In) bypasses all of this commentary and observation, concluding that the only thing the film “says” is that bad guys can get away with badness: “If a film, no matter how polished, says nothing better about life than ‘Everybody’s gonna grab their chunk and run,’ does that make good drama? Are we satisfied by that? Should we be?”

Mainstream critics are applauding Lee’s surprisingly agile maneuver from films about social concerns to polished genre entertainment.

Reitman does it right in Smoking

Director Jason Reitman, son of director Ivan Reitman (Dave, Ghostbusters), is winning praise for his light, funny, political comedy Thank You for Smoking, which gives Aaron Eckhart of Erin Brockovich and The Core a leading role. Eckhart plays a smooth-talking tobacco lobbyist trying to defend cigarette manufacturers and polish up their reputation.

Critics are amused, but not amazed.

Todd Hertz (Christianity Today Movies) calls it “a slick, funny and intelligent satire with a break-through performance by Eckhart.” He praises Reitman’s “fresh satirical approach” and says that the “clever dialogue and wry observations hit their mark.”

“Unfortunately,” Hertz concludes, “as the film continues, its somewhat bland and often ridiculous plot takes over—forcing the fresh touches to the background and nearly blunting the satirical points.”

Harry Forbes (Catholic News Service) says it’s “consistently amusing and acted with just the right seriocomic style. [Reitman] manages to sustain the comedy—nicely underplayed—without really losing sight of the grave issues at hand. Picture Christopher Guest melded with Michael Moore. Besides Eckhart’s spectacular performance, everyone else in the cast is right on the money, and that’s not just blowing smoke.”

Mainstream critics are getting a buzz from it.

Larry the Cable Guy hazardous to your health

When a health inspector (Larry the Cable Guy) starts training a rookie (Iris Bahr), his routine gets thrown out of whack. But when diners at a fancy restaurant start getting sick, he’s thankful for the extra help. After all, it’s hard work offending the upper class with your crass manners all by yourself.

That’s the premise for Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, this week’s candidate for the “Film We Can’t Believe Made It to the Big Screen” award.

Marcus Yoars (Plugged In) writes, “Health Inspector was obviously not given the green light based on its plot. Instead, those funding this project were banking on Larry the Cable Guy simply doing what Larry the Cable Guy always does: act like a ‘redneck fool.’ … Larry’s feature film debut does little more than demonstrate, in a big way, just how weak his ’cause-I’m-dumb material is. Add a ceaseless flow of bawdy good-ol’ boy quips and it’s not just unfunny, it’s obnoxious.”

David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) says it is “[w]itless and virtually unwatchable,” and that it “makes the lowbrow inanity of Dumb and Dumber look like Moliere. ‘Gross, loud and rude’ is one character’s description of the beer-bellied lead. That says it all.”

Most mainstream critics can’t be bothered to even review the film.

Stay away from Stay Alive

Malcolm’s in a muddle in the Disposable Horror Movie of the Week—Stay Alive. Frankie Muniz joins other ill-advised young actors in a cheap shock flick about the death of a video-game tester. One by one, the dead kid’s idiotic friends decide to follow his example by playing a sick and twisted game, and they suffer the consequences. Viewers who bother to waste their money on this movie will suffer a wasted couple of hours.

Adam R. Holz (Plugged In) says, “Stay Alive is a Frankensteinian mash-up drawing liberally from the story lines of The Ring, Saw and Nightmare on Elm Street with a nod to the game Resident Evil tossed in for good measure. … About the only thing even remotely ‘good’ that might be said of this movie is that its PG-13 rating restricts it from going as far, violence-wise, as, say, the recent R-rated shock spectacle Hostel.”

Bob Rossiter (Christian Spotlight) demonstrates that he is probably not a member of the film’s target audience. “Horror movies are so unrealistic to me. The Bible says that one of two things is going to happen. The righteous will be resurrected to eternal life and the wicked to eternal punishment. The idea that an evil person can come back to the land of the living to torture and kill people is bogus.”

Mainstream critics are wishing they’d stayed away from Stay Alive.

More reviews of recent releases

V for Vendetta: Andrew Coffin (World) writes, “Originally conceived as an extreme, anarchistic response to an extreme, fascist government in the near future, V for Vendetta has been translated, with a terrorist hero at its center, into a vicious, thinly veiled attack on American conservatives and Christians.”

Tsotsi: Marcus Yoars (Plugged In) says, “It’s easy to see why critics are hailing Tsotsi as one of the greatest films to ever come out of Africa … and why it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year. The stirring tale … is tightly scripted, efficiently directed and deftly acted.” He adds that it’s “presented with a subtlety and artistry that will likely have moviegoers pondering the plot twists hours and days after leaving the theater. Unfortunately, they’ll also be remembering the thick layer of gritty realism that coats that thought-provoking message.”