Clive Owen attempts to pull off the perfect heist in this twisty, slow burning thriller from Spike Lee.
He plays Dalton Russell, a brilliant criminal who masterminds a robbery at a Manhattan bank owned by sinister millionaire Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer).
Things get messy though when a beat cop stumbles in on the job by mistake and calls in the big boys.
Before long hotshot NYPD hostage negotiator Keith Frazier (Washington with a dodgy Panama hat) and his twitchy fingered SWAT team are on the scene and it looks as though Russell's perfect scheme is in danger of collapse. Or was this exactly what he had planned all along?
They say:
Total Film: " Hits the mark, nothing more. Great to see Spike and Denzel together again, but next time they need to lay down sterner challenges for each other."
Empire: "A pacy, vigorous and frequently masterful take on a well worn genre. Thanks to some slick lens work and a cast on cracking form, Lee proves that playing it straight is not always a bad thing."
Guardian: "You could try emptying Lake Victoria with a teaspoon, or getting into your house with front door key made of marzipan. Either of these activities would be less of a waste of time than watching this supremely annoying and nonsensical film."
We say:
This is the most mainstream offering of Lee's career and apart from the occasional unsubtle reference to post 9/11 angst (a Seik is mistaken for a suicide bomber) it is difficult to tell that this is the same firebrand director of old.
The presence of long-time pal Washington (in the pair's fourth collaboration) is a big give away though, and he produces another decent performance as the flawed cop battling against both the criminals and his corrupt colleagues.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said about Jodie Foster, who is horrifically miscast as an acid tongued power broker.
Foster has always been best playing the damsel in distress and her turn here as a tough talking fixer jars horribly.
At one point the Mayor of New York says to her "you are a magnificent cunt", and as she threatens to wreck the film single handedly you tend to agree.
Also, the plot runs on 30 minutes too long – a real problem as this kind of slow burn thriller doesn't actually contain much action.
Slick and stylish but lacking any heart or message, Lee fans will feel robbed.
CAST
Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster,
Christopher Plummer, Willem DaFoe
DIRECTOR
Spike Lee
TIME
129 mins
POSTED...
Mon 27 Mar 2006 at 10:52am
