Rating (3 out of 5)

This isn’t a current movie, but this is the first time I had watched, so thought I would write a review. The premise of this movie is a bank heist, which is led by Clive Owen. Denzel Washington is the lead detective, Jodie Foster is a corporate fixer and Christopher Plummer is the bank president who has a secret that he hires Jodie Foster to protect.

The movie starts off well, with the bank heist and introduction of the characters. That part pulls you in well. But then about 1/3 of the way through the movie, you are waiting for something to happen. It never really does until the very end which is a problem with the movie.

The twist at the end of the movie isn’t bad, but definitely lacks in the delivery of an Ocean’s movie or Shalaman. This is a Spike Lee movie, and I appreciate his trying a bank heist film, but he struggled with pieces.

One of the items that really puzzled me, was when Clive Owen was talking to the young black boy about his video game. It was a PSP, and the video game character was a gangster, doing bad things. A little like Grand Theft auto. I think Spike Lee was trying to say something, but it was missed on me and just wasted valuable screen time.

In one scene Denzel realizes something is wrong, and rushes out of the command center. Spike then uses the rail to move Denzel hurriedly down the street. This is is an effect I have seen him use before, and it is a cool effect. However, I don’t know if he needed to use it in this movie. Didn’t fit in with the rest of the movie.

There was also a scene where Clive is in the bank vault, and the musical score selected was very odd. The score sounded like a a score from a Bond film, rather than a Spike Lee bank heist film. It was misplaced and again was another blemish on the movie.

The lack of speed (you are getting anxious for it to end by the end of the 2 hours and 9 minutes) was noticeable. While decent performances all around, this would definitely be a movie I would not rush to see.