Inside Man Reviews
ComingSoon.net
The lack of characterization of the robbers, while true to the structure of the story, makes it seem a bit flat. At the end of the day, it's not really about anything; it's just a bunch of stuff that happens. But it's a bunch of stuff that's fun to watch.
Full Review
| Original Score: 6/10
Suite101.com
An intelligent, invigoratingly airtight caper and a love letter to New York on crumpled, coffee-stained paper, "Inside Man" is the best kind of Spike Lee joint - one where he doesn't stumble over his sledgehammer before swinging it.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/4
CinePassion
A limp ride that, for all the shove of the camera and the grabby intimations of buried corruption, is no different from a John McTiernan Joint
DVD Review
... remains consistently watchable as a mechanical exercise.
ColeSmithey.com
Since bankrupting his film production company with dreadful movies like "Bamboozled" and "He Hate Me" Spike Lee now works as a Hollywood gun-for-hire creating a blasé and muddy suspense police drama.
Full Review
| Original Score: C
CHUD
Inside Man is the Spike Lee film for people who don't go to see Spike Lee films, and it's also a fun treat for people who see everything the man does.
Film4
An enjoyable, polished thriller, ideal for Friday night entertainment.
Top Critic[A] wily thriller, which revitalizes a familiar premise by turning it inside out.
As unexpected as some of its plot twists is the fact that this unapologetic genre movie was directed by Spike Lee, who has never sold himself as Mr. Entertainment. But here it is, a Spike Lee joint that's downright fun.
eFilmCritic.com
[Lee] nails the irritable yet alive soul of New York -- particularly, now, New York post-9/11 -- better than anyone else.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/5
Big Picture Big Sound
With a few notable exceptions, there's little of Mr. Lee's trademark style anywhere to be seen. And he is sorely missed.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
Eye for Film
the apotheosis of its genre, honing the heist siege flick to the perfection of a diamond. See it, and be dazzled.
Guardian [UK]
Supremely annoying and nonsensical.
Full Review
| Original Score: 1/5
Bean Soup Times
It's okay, if you like investing two hours in a whodunit only to discover that a butler who was barely in the picture did it.
| Original Score: 1/4
Nolan's Pop Culture Review
This is the fourth time that Lee has directed Washington, and they have become as great a team as Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorsese.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
The Nation
Yes, Lee did a contract job -- but that doesn't mean he slapped his coat of paint onto someone else's house.
Christianity Today
The movie bristles with life with the meeting of people from different races. It's a Spike Lee joint after all, and it's at its most entertaining when reflecting these tensions.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Uruguay Total
Un policial interesante y algo original, con comentario socio-político incluido. Al final le sobran facilismos y algunos cabos sueltos, pero las buenas actuaciones y la mano del director lo compensan.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Not Coming to a Theater Near You
A hugely entertaining heist film, with a refreshingly straightforward plot, excellent characters, and just the right amount of Spike's snarky class/racial digs.
West Valley View
Bankers gone wild ...
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5
