Comfort Food
Inside Man (2006; d. Spike Lee; s. Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster). I was watching Top Chef this weekend on Bravo, and thinking about how this reality show separates from other shows. Don't get me wrong--I watch a lot of shit. The Slither review is coming any day now, for example. But the reason those other shows are shit is because they ultimately have so little at stake. It's funny to see beautiful women get worked up and humiliated for something that will be worth very little, because while attractive, they're not models. I think the reason the drama gets so thick on those shows is because they all recognize that they won't be stars. Instead, the suffering has to bring value.
But on Top Chef, you watch talented people do their thing, with minimal fuss. Any interpersonal problems become just another obstacle to doing your job--if you lose your shit, you lose the game, simple as that. And very little tops the simple pleasure of watching a talented person enjoying him or herself at work.
Hence, Inside Man. Inside Man is about smart talented people going about their business, both inside and outside of the movie. Within the fiction of the movie, the characters are all smart and insightful and good at what they do. The script ambles along, drifting here and there, and wiping out questions of right and wrong with regards to Owen and Washington. Instead, the conflict is approach-approach. The characters are so well drawn that I rooted for both of them, and the tension I felt derived from being unable to see how the movie could resolve itself in a satisfying way (e.g., neither man loses).
In this sense, the movie itself is the heist. The director and performers give their all to showing you exactly what they are doing the entire film (Denzel is cool, Spike is stylish and New York through and through, Clive is dangerous, Jodie is smart and cynical) and daring you to figure out how they're going to pull it off in the end. When it does happen, it's a pleasure to be fooled.
The best part is, the personal drama that invades the other movies (Spike's occasional forays into wretched excess, for example) is kept to a bare minimum. The characters are focused on the goal the entire time. Which makes this movie a surprise joy--not because it does anything new or different or innovative, but because talented people know what you want to see, and they give it to you just the way you want it.
It's funny--along with Night Watch, 2006 seems to be a celebration of going back to the basics. At least for me. If I start blogging about missing Matlock, somebody shoot me. (Columbo's okay though.)
Next Time: The Real Cancun
Hence, Inside Man. Inside Man is about smart talented people going about their business, both inside and outside of the movie. Within the fiction of the movie, the characters are all smart and insightful and good at what they do. The script ambles along, drifting here and there, and wiping out questions of right and wrong with regards to Owen and Washington. Instead, the conflict is approach-approach. The characters are so well drawn that I rooted for both of them, and the tension I felt derived from being unable to see how the movie could resolve itself in a satisfying way (e.g., neither man loses).
In this sense, the movie itself is the heist. The director and performers give their all to showing you exactly what they are doing the entire film (Denzel is cool, Spike is stylish and New York through and through, Clive is dangerous, Jodie is smart and cynical) and daring you to figure out how they're going to pull it off in the end. When it does happen, it's a pleasure to be fooled.
The best part is, the personal drama that invades the other movies (Spike's occasional forays into wretched excess, for example) is kept to a bare minimum. The characters are focused on the goal the entire time. Which makes this movie a surprise joy--not because it does anything new or different or innovative, but because talented people know what you want to see, and they give it to you just the way you want it.
It's funny--along with Night Watch, 2006 seems to be a celebration of going back to the basics. At least for me. If I start blogging about missing Matlock, somebody shoot me. (Columbo's okay though.)
Next Time: The Real Cancun
posted by Jamie at 11:55 AM
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