Inside Man: Most Wanted

2019 Universal Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 45min

Action ~ Crime ~ Drama ~ Thriller

Starring: Aml Ameen, Rhea Seehorn, and Roxanne McKee.

“The ultimate game of copycat and mouse.”

The movie starts out with American soldiers in 1945 Europe battling it out with German Soldiers in front of a farmhouse. They neutralize the Germans and open the barn doors to uncover a pallet full of wooden cases containing bars of Nazi Gold. Then we flash forward to New York City in the present day. A group of criminals has taken over the Federal Bank of New York and is holding hostages. They force the bank manager downstairs to open up the holding areas where they keep all the gold. They force him to open up a room way in the back and we see the same pallet full of Nazi gold bars from Europe.

FBI Negotiator Brynn Stewart (Rhea Seehorn) is tapped to lead the response team along with NYPD Negotiator Remy Darbonne (Aml Ameen). They tap into the bank’s phone lines and call the criminals. Ariella Barash (Roxanne McKee) answers and insists that they call her “Most Wanted”. She demands that they disperse two armored vehicles to the front of the bank so that they can load the gold into them. Then they will take the vehicles to the airport where they will have a plane waiting for them. It seems like a simple robbery on a bank full of gold, but as we move forward, there are numerous plot twists that make this anything but that.

And the game of cat and mouse, or should I say copycat and mouse is on as the FBI, NYPD and Swat try to free the hostages, figure out the criminals end game and keep the massive pile of gold from being stolen. It is a thrilling action crime drama with a mystery not solved until the very end. It is a movie centered around a bank robbery but it is much more than that. There are secrets and mysteries that are exposed that throw a different twist on the old bank robbery caper.

I have seen this countless times, whenever I see it listed on a platform I always watch it. It is one of my favorites. I sought it out this time because I found out that it was a sequel to the movie INSIDE MAN. I have seen INSIDE MAN numerous times too, but didn’t realize they were connected. I came across an article about it while doing research for another movie. It explained how the two movies are connected in the storyline, how the story carries over into the sequel. I had no idea, but thinking about it it made sense. So I had to go back and watch them both with my new knowledge of the storyline.

It is a good movie, although I don’t think it is as good as the first. Close but definitely comes in second. Of course the absence of Denzel Washington and Clive Owen is noticeable. But this movie carries on after the events of the first movie and they are tied together. So I thought it was a good sequel, I had a better appreciation of the movie knowing they were related and how. I did really like Aml Ameen, Rhea Seehorn, and Roxanne McKee in this, I really liked their characters and thought they did a good job with them.

So that’s a yes for me, I would recommend watching INSIDE MAN first before INSIDE MAN: MOST WANTED. And I would recommend watching both of them, it’s a good little Duology.

Enjoy!

Inside Man

2006 Universal Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 2 hr 8min

Crime ~ Drama ~ Mystery ~ Thriller

Directed by: Spike Lee

Starring: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

“My name is Dalton Russell. Recently I planned and set in motion events to execute the perfect bank robbery……..”

Clive Owen stars as Dalton Russell, who in August 2005, leads a small group of criminals who hijack The Manhattan Trust Bank and hold everyone inside hostage. Denzel Washington stars as Detective Keith Frazier, who along with his partner Detective Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) are assigned to the active situation. Willem Dafoe stars as Captain John Darius with the NYPD Emergency services Unit who has set up the perimeter and command center at the Bank. They set up phone communication within the bank solely through the commander center and wait to hear from the Bank robbers.

Christopher Plummer stars as The Founder and Chairman of The Board of Manhattan Trust Bank Arthur Case. This branch is the original Manhattan Trust Bank and also the biggest. Arthur is very nervous about the robbery and the men inside the bank because he has an unidentified security deposit box inside. He does not want them to get their hands on what is inside the box for fear it could ruin him. He makes a call to the most notorius “Fixer” in the city, Madeleine White (Jodie Foster), and she agrees to meet with him. Madeleine calls in a favor from the Mayor and gets him to let her into the active crime scene so she can negotiate with the bank robbers.

And the game of cat and mouse is on as the police and detectives try to negotiate with the bank robbers and figure out their motives and demands, and Madeleine and Arthur try to keep his secret hidden, and the robbers play hide and seek with the hostages as they do something different than bank robbers are expected to do in this situation. It is a thrilling crime drama with a mystery not solved until the very end. It is a movie centered around a bank robbery but it is much more than that. There are secrets and mysteries that are exposed that throw a different twist on the old bank robbery caper.

I have seen this countless times, whenever I see it listed on a platform I always watch it. It is one of my favorites. I sought it out this time because I found out that there was a sequel to this movie, INSIDE MAN: MOST WANTED. I have seen the sequel numerous times too, but didn’t realize they were connected. I came across an article about it while doing research for another movie. It explained how the two movies are connected in the storyline, how the story carries over into the sequel. I had no idea, but thinking about it it made sense. So I had to go back and watch them with my new knowledge of the storyline.

It is a great movie. With Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor all at their best. It is funny at times as well. All the interrogation scenes were completely ad-libbed by the actors. Great job I’d say. Great story, great cast, great acting and a great movie. I am watching the sequel INSIDE MAN: MOST WANTED tonight.

If you haven’t seen it you’re missing out on a good one.

Highly Recommended!