Oh my. This movie was absolutely fantastic. It even had a awesome soundtrack…right off the bat with A.R. Rahman’s Cheya-Cheya (sp). Oh that’s right…I didn’t tell you about him. He wrote the music for Bombay Dreams, and he’s an international music god by his own rights. And the music fun doesn’t stop there. The credits list an entire symphonic orchestra piece by piece…but I’m getting off track…because as I’ve said before, a movie of this type (we’ll just stick with drama as the genre) isn’t about the film’s individual pieces…

My name is Dalton Russell. Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully and I never repeat myself. I’ve given you the who. Recently I planned and set in motion events to execute the perfect bank robbery. That explains the what, when and where. Why? Because I can. That leaves only the how…and as the bard said, “There-in lies the rub.”

It’s about the how.

The movie is a drama that focuses on trying to figure out why Steve (Clive Owen) is doing what he’s doing and how hostage negotiator Michael Frazier (Denzel Washington) figures it out…and we’re along for the ride.

Spike Jones does an incredible job capturing the melting pot aspect of America here (as I am told he does in all his films), and of course New York is perfectly suited as the staging ground.

Why does Steve rob the bank? To reveal the truth behind one of the richest men in America. How does he know to do this? That is one thing I’d like to know. Perhaps the secret lies with the titular inside man who (from what I saw in the film) is unrevealed.