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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."

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March (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50