Friday Night Movie Club
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Head toVultures Twitterto catch her live commentary, and look ahead atnext weeks movie here.
I want a trio of goons holding asubway train hostage.
I wantRobert De Niro making a U-turnat the last second to settle a score.
I want a foursome of women from Los Angelessetting it off.
More than anything, I want stakes that are clearly defined.
The one I come back to, time and again, isInside Man.
Spike Lees highest-grossing movie is still an engaging, engrossing caper.
(The restraint here!
It sets all my synapses on fire, the way his certainty veers just shy of smugness.)
There are jumpsuits and dark sunglasses and a menacing vault.
Race and money (or the lack of it) can sway anything in this New York.
A white cop (Willem Dafoe) bucks when he has to respect Fraziers authority.
Officers rush to tackle bank hostage Waris Ahluwalia for no reason other than that hes wearing a turban.
A chatty woman trades information, but only if her parking tickets are handled.
This is New York as only Spike Lee can film it: loud, frustrated, funny.
I cannot stress enough how much this movie absolutely rules.
Its slyer than a typical cat-and-mouse story, where one man nips at anothers heels.
Its more complicated than a pair of fraternal twins on different sides of the law.
Wholl give up first?
Theyre equals, intellectually, but also opposites.
I want Russells smugness to give out just as much as I want Fraziers desperation to give in.
To be clear, the edict is still toabolish the police.
But in the meantime, wont you watchInside Manwith me?
