Spike Lee Still a Better Director than Knic ks a Basketball Team
Sorry, that was harsh, but whoever thought Larry Brown was the answer didn't read the question.
Spike Lee is one of my favorite directors. Not because I like every movie he releases, I don't (anybody see SUMMER OF SAM) but he feels so passionately about his art, and he's so confident, he's not afraid to go out there completely on limb. INSIDE MAN is as predictable a Spike Lee film as Match Point was a Woody ALlen film, but Lee succeeds where Allen failed, because he brought the skills he has at his dispossible and translated them to the new subject matter. And INSIDE MAN has it all, race relations, people caught in a job they can't control, unbeleivable ego and an amazing unstanding of the environment. And its a mystery. Its about twenty minutes into the movie that you realize that 'they got away with it' - you spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out what 'it' was and how they did it. And the depth of the ensemble cast, where every character is intriguing and even likable, only helps to cloud your judgement. ANd the details, the dialogue, its vintage SPike Lee, like I never expected.
Clive Owen takes a bank hostage, ostensibly to rob it. But yet he is concerned when one of the
kids in the bank is play a violent game on his PSP. Denzel Washington is a first time lead detective trying to quell the hostage situation, and yet they is the matter of some $140,000 in missing checks back at the police station hanging over him. He is anxious to spar with Willem DeFoe, the grizzled cop and captain of the swat team, who is anxious to go in and shoot it up, but also like to solve a good riddle. And Christopher Plummer, the bank owner with a wall of community service plaques and something to hide. And he turns to Jodie Foster, who sparkles as a high class 'fixer,' and lives in a different world than Denzel. What a cast and Spike gets perfect performances out of each of them.
I seldom have been so satisfied coming out of a film... I dubbed it immediately a 'perfect film.'
It accomplished everything it set out to do, and kept me guessing the whole time. Spike Lee is one of the truly great directors in a world of babysitters and niche specialists. And its his confidence that lets him tackle whatever appeals to him. I wonder if he just walks around New York looking for movie ideas, there must be very few inches left in Big Apple that he hasn't logged into a film... And when he gets tired of that he'll just film somewhere else (like in BAMBOOZLED or SCHOOL DAZE). Until Peter Jackson proves he can make a film set in one location with no digital effects, I'm going to praise Spike Lee as the best director working today.
INSIDE MAN is recommended for anyone who ever wanted to rob a bank, fans of great acting and directing, and people who haven't seen a movie since christmas. Rick's Rating: A
Spike Lee is one of my favorite directors. Not because I like every movie he releases, I don't (anybody see SUMMER OF SAM) but he feels so passionately about his art, and he's so confident, he's not afraid to go out there completely on limb. INSIDE MAN is as predictable a Spike Lee film as Match Point was a Woody ALlen film, but Lee succeeds where Allen failed, because he brought the skills he has at his dispossible and translated them to the new subject matter. And INSIDE MAN has it all, race relations, people caught in a job they can't control, unbeleivable ego and an amazing unstanding of the environment. And its a mystery. Its about twenty minutes into the movie that you realize that 'they got away with it' - you spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out what 'it' was and how they did it. And the depth of the ensemble cast, where every character is intriguing and even likable, only helps to cloud your judgement. ANd the details, the dialogue, its vintage SPike Lee, like I never expected.Clive Owen takes a bank hostage, ostensibly to rob it. But yet he is concerned when one of the
kids in the bank is play a violent game on his PSP. Denzel Washington is a first time lead detective trying to quell the hostage situation, and yet they is the matter of some $140,000 in missing checks back at the police station hanging over him. He is anxious to spar with Willem DeFoe, the grizzled cop and captain of the swat team, who is anxious to go in and shoot it up, but also like to solve a good riddle. And Christopher Plummer, the bank owner with a wall of community service plaques and something to hide. And he turns to Jodie Foster, who sparkles as a high class 'fixer,' and lives in a different world than Denzel. What a cast and Spike gets perfect performances out of each of them.I seldom have been so satisfied coming out of a film... I dubbed it immediately a 'perfect film.'
It accomplished everything it set out to do, and kept me guessing the whole time. Spike Lee is one of the truly great directors in a world of babysitters and niche specialists. And its his confidence that lets him tackle whatever appeals to him. I wonder if he just walks around New York looking for movie ideas, there must be very few inches left in Big Apple that he hasn't logged into a film... And when he gets tired of that he'll just film somewhere else (like in BAMBOOZLED or SCHOOL DAZE). Until Peter Jackson proves he can make a film set in one location with no digital effects, I'm going to praise Spike Lee as the best director working today.INSIDE MAN is recommended for anyone who ever wanted to rob a bank, fans of great acting and directing, and people who haven't seen a movie since christmas. Rick's Rating: A
posted by Bears Fonte @ 11:54 AM
1 Comments:
At 2:05 PM,
Our Man In Chicago said…
MINOR SPOILAGE BELOW (BUT ONLY IF YOU'VE NEVER READ THE GRAPHIC NOVEL)
Totally agree with you on Inside Man but I disagree on V For Vainglorious.
Here's why:
* Natalie Portman's big character-defining moment comes from emotional and physical abuse at the hands of someone she later falls in love with. Awesome. (I know it's in the book but still, it bothers).
* You can either say this society's government is a fascist government that rules by fear or it's a underhanded government that had lulled its people into submission and is taking away their rights but not both. Or to put it another way: the movie can either be an indictment of Thatcher-era politics like the book or it can be a critique of the Bush administration. But the film tries to do both and fails (the bird flu/disaster montage was laughable).
* Similarly, the movie fails to define V's motives. This is partly because the movie takes forever to tell his story (and then reiterates all the facts in a boring scene for those who were either confused or not paying attention (or bored).
* Other details were irritating. So it's a gov't with a maniacal grip on information yet info on a huge scandal is easily found online. And people are harmed if they go out after curfew yet Natalie Portman is OK with going to visit a friend. And a gov't figure is threatened with...forced resignation! Oh god, not that!
* Plus, the whole bit at the end with the political shuffling behind the scenes was sloppily written and directed. They tried to take an artfully laid-out subplot from the book and make it a satisfying plot contrivance for the audience.
Stephen Rea was good though.
V for Vendetta is for people with 10 dollars lying around that they can spend no other way and for people who would like to see Natalie Portman dressed by like a doll from Babes in Toyland.
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