Inside Man [8/10]

Look, this movie has a lot going for it: Denzel is Denzel (if there's another actor with less need for a last name I cant think of one - seriously, when was the last time you heard someone say, "Denzel Washington" in conversation?), bad ass Clive Owen (I haven't actually seen Casino Royale yet, but if they were gonna choose an ugly dude a ruggedly handsome guy to play Bond how could they not go with Clive Owen?), some great dialogue and a relatively clever heist plot. It's just too bad that the clever heist plot has to share so much screen time with the film's real theme: racial diversity and tension in the great US of fucking A. I'm fully aware that it's a Spike Lee Joint, but how does needlessly packing in all manner of racial clichés make for a good heist movie? That's right, it doesn't. The beat cop has reasons for being prejudiced? No way! The Sikh shows that racism cuts both ways? How intriguing! The white chick with big titties gets stereotyped too? How fucking sad! Sorry Spike, but if I want to be inundated with clichés then I'll throw on Crash. Oh, and don't even get me started on the music. Most of the score sounds just like that painful overly dramatic garbage that played during the absurd final sequence in 25th Hour - absolutely brutal to listen to. Of course even with all the hackneyed racial crap and shitty music, it's still a pretty damn entertaining flick.