(Crime/Drama: 2 hours, 9 minutes); Starring: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer and Willem Dafoe; Director: Spike Lee; Rated: R (Profanity, violence and sexual innuendo)

Movie Review: While facing an internal police investigation, Detective Keith Frazier (Washington) is sent to head up a bank robbery turned hostage situation. Frazier is out to prove he is a good cop and can handle the situation. Four masked assailants led by Dalton Russell (Owen) hold bank employees and customers hostage in Manhattan. Enter Madeline White (Jodie Foster). Russell wants to prove he can pull off the perfect crime. She wants to protect an item hidden in one of the safety-deposit boxes inside the bank. White does not know what is in the box, only that her employer, Chairman Arthur Case (Plummer) of the bank’s board, desperately wants the item. White thinks her cunning will prevail with both the bank robbers and the police. They all have something to prove, and everything to lose if there is the slightest problem.

“Inside Man” is a different type of Spike Lee joint. Sure, the usual topics of socialism — America’s ongoing struggle with racism, sexism, and classism — are present, but the story is an intriguing and energetic tale which makes you laugh, keeps you tensed and never becomes uninteresting. Lee also uses moments of humor to move the film along, juxtaposing a few non-sequential colorful scenes to break-up the conformity of what would be an otherwise cut-and-dry formula crime caper.

The film’s drawbacks are some candid moments which seem all to fake. Take a scene where some people are asked to remove some of their clothing, the women and men all look like Victoria Secret and A&F models, young and cute with well-built bodies. As an acquaintance put it, if banks were really filled people like this, they would be called clubs and gyms and filled to capacity. Still, this dramatic film is a must-see for those who like an entertaining movie.

During a potent moment, Owen’s Dalton Russell informs the police he wants a bus and airplane to escape. Washington’s character responds, “C’mon! You’ve seen ‘Dog Day Afternoon!’” For those who have not seen “Dog Day Afternoon” (Director Sidney Lumet, 1975), bank robbers try to escape by aviation. No airplane exists in “Inside Man.” Instead, viewers are treated with great actors in an intense drama which is funny and as thought-provoking as it is intense.

Grade: B (Inside the good side of film.)