[ThisWeek] Inside Man at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre

[thisweek at kenworthy.org]

This week at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre...

Inside Man (R)
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, May 25, 26 &27
7:00 PM
Sunday, May 28
4:05 & 7:00 PM
$5/adult
KFS pass accepted for Sunday movies
(See Review below)
* * *

Next week at the Kenworthy-

The Boys of Baraka (R)
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, June 1, 2 & 3
7:00 PM
Sunday, June 4
4:50 & 7:00 PM
$5/adult
KFS pass accepted for Sunday movies
* * *

Take a seat!  We mean that literally.  The Kenworthy is offering you the
opportunity to purchase one of a limited number of theater chairs in the
main auditorium.  Your gift will entitle you to an engraved, brass name
plate mounted on the back of the seat of your choice (based upon
availability).  One individual or business name per seat, please.

This naming opportunity, back by popular demand, is available for a donation
of $500 per chair.  You may purchase a chair in two installments of $250
over two years, or in three installments of $200 over three years.

Your gift will assist with the ongoing operation and renovation of the
Kenworthy Theater and fulfillment of our mission to be Moscow's premiere,
historic, downtown, community performing arts venue and cinematic art house.

For information about the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre, call Julie
Ketchum, Executive Director, at 208-882-4127.
* * *

Coming in June at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre...

The World¹s Fastest Indian (PG-13)
June 8-10, 7:00 PM
June 11, 4:05 & 7:00 PM

Dreamer (PG)
June 14, 1:00 PM

Friends With Money (R)
June 15-17, 7:00 PM
June 18, 4:45 & 7:00 PM

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (PG)
June 21, 1:00 PM

Thank You For Smoking (R)
June 22-24, 7:00 PM
June 25, 4:45 & 7:00 PM

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (G)
June 28, 1:00 PM

Coming in July: Hoot; Nanny McPhee; Ice Age: The Meltdown

Regular movie prices:  $5/adult, $2/child 12 or younger
Wednesday matinee prices: $4/adult, $1/child 12 or younger
KFS series pass prices:  $30/10 films, $75/30 films.  KFS pass good only for
Sunday movies.

For more information on movies, events, rental rates, and/or to download a
schedule, visit our website at www.kenworthy.org
* * *

This week¹s review-

Inside Man

Directed by Spike Lee
Rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Some gun
violence, some sexual innuendo, and a lot of bad, bad words.
Running time: 2 hours, 8 minutes

As reviewed by Manohla Dargis writing for the New York Times

"Inside Man" is a jolt, partly because it comes equipped rather
incongruously with the name of Mr. Lee's company, 40 Acres and a Mule
Filmworks, but mostly because this is the kind of seamless diversion that
should be a stock item in Hollywood, but isn't. "Inside Man" works because
it takes a familiar setup ‹ in this case, a Wall Street bank heist that
mutates into a hostage crisis ‹ and twists it ever so slightly. A
particularly solid screenplay helps here, as do stars who can actually act ‹
this film's holy trinity being Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie
Foster ‹ along with an excellent supporting cast and the best lineup of
pusses and mugs outside "The Sopranos."

Here's how it goes down: Mr. Owen stares into the camera and announces that
he is about to commit "the perfect bank robbery." Whether his character,
Dalton Russell, succeeds is immaterial to how he gets from the first act to
the third, which is where Mr. Lee's movie love comes in. This is the least
overtly personal of Mr. Lee's films, but it's also his most polished and
satisfying work in years, with none of the raggedness that sometimes mars
even his best intentions. Taking his cue from the surprising, witty
screenplay by the newcomer Russell Gewirtz, the filmmaker frames the heist
and subsequent standoff as a really big show ‹ namedropping "Dog Day
Afternoon" along the way ‹ then cuts his actors loose and lets them play.

As the action pings between Russell working his wicked ways inside the bank;
Mr. Washington's smooth operator, a veteran detective named Keith Frazier;
and Ms. Foster's Madeline White, a fixer hired by the bank, you might find
yourself trying to unknot the increasingly tangled plot. Don't bother.
Filled with playful noise and nonsense, clever feints and digressions,
"Inside Man" has a story to tell, but its most sustained pleasures come from
its performances, especially the three leads. To watch Mr. Washington breeze
into a scene smooth as silk, smooth as Bogart and Easy Rawlins combined, or
to listen to Mr. Owen murmur sweet nothings into the camera, is to
experience the ineffable pleasures that only big-screen stars can provide.

Mr. Lee rarely treats his actresses or female characters as well as their
male counterparts, but whether by design or neglect, he helps Ms. Foster
deliver her wittiest, most relaxed performance in ages. Part Mata Hari, part
Ilsa the She Wolf, she stalks the sets in form-fitting suits and nose-bleed
heels that show off her spectacular legs wonderfully. In a story dominated
by men, in which most of the women are either desexualized or double-D
babes, her character presents an amusing fantasy of female power.

Like everyone else in the film, Madeline seems interested only in getting
hers. Russell wants his ill-gotten gains, Detective Frazier wants his
promotion, and the bank bigwig (Christopher Plummer) wants his secrets kept
‹ it's a Hobbesian world, after all. Mr. Lee, meanwhile, most likely wants
the respect that he has always been due. Consistently underrated and
underappreciated, this filmmaker is an erratic talent, if no more so than
many ensconced in Hollywood, and his insistence that race matters has cost
him dearly with the mainstream (i.e., white) audience. He's right, of
course, that race matters, which is why, in between plot points and star
turns, he gently and, at times, rather hilariously, insists on reminding us
that it does. He may have sublet this "Spike Lee Joint" to out-of-towners,
but it's good to see that he hasn't left the neighborhood.
 

As reviewed by Ruthe Stein writing for the San Francisco Chronicle

Yes, there's a hostage situation in "Inside Man," but thank goodness it
doesn't rely on that tired plot device for kicks. The thrills in Spike Lee's
singularly savvy thriller are in small unexpected moments -- such as Denzel
Washington's detective stopping to put on a rakish straw hat and adjust the
brim in a police station mirror before heading off to a bank heist to
negotiate a hostage standoff, or a little run of a trumpet as the camera
scans an architecturally grand 1920s financial institution from left to
right for evidence of the robbers' malfeasance.

When Detective Keith Frazier (Washington) finally confronts the main perp,
Dalton Russell, he warns the bad guy that this isn't going to turn out well
and asks if he's seen "Dog Day Afternoon." While both take full advantage of
their New York setting -- Lee begins with a virtual tour of the skyline shot
from odd angles -- "Inside Man" is more like the anti-"Dog Day," a film in
which the crooks outthink the cops on every move.

Russell Gewirtz's smart script, amazingly the first he's written, outthinks
the audience as well. Gewirtz takes the conventional format of a heist flick
and does something completely unorthodox with it. Not until an ending I defy
anyone to predict does it even become clear what the Dalton gang came to
steal.

As hostages are slowly released, Detective Frazier considers the possibility
they could be accomplices while grilling them. Because they're a mix of
races, this allows for a little lesson on racism in America. It wouldn't be
a Spike Lee movie without some lecturing, but at least it's done here with
humor. When one hostage, who proudly identifies himself as a Sikh, complains
about being stopped at airports for so-called random searches, Frazier
counters with, "Yeah, but you can always get a cab."

The interrogation scenes are shot in sepia tones and focus on close-ups of
Washington, who's ready for them. Maybe because this is his fourth
collaboration with Lee, Washington seems completely at ease in front of the
camera. His dazzling smile and way of sauntering -- he moves with more grace
than any actor around -- are in full evidence. Best of all, he's been given
a girlfriend he gets to talk dirty to, exhibiting a sexual side rarely seen
on screen.

As much as anything, "Inside Man" is a treatise on power. The banker has it
and uses it to intimidate White, who, in turn, attempts to let Frazier know
she's on top. But, as the movie cleverly shows, you don't need a title in
front of your name or a load of money to attain power. All you need is
something that someone else wants. When the bank is bugged and the robbers
are heard speaking Albanian, the police are in desperate need of a
translator. The former wife of a bystander is recruited. She comes in
carrying a bagful of parking tickets that she expects to be fixed and
immediately lights up a cigarette. Told there's no smoking, she just laughs.

As reviewed by Todd McCarthy writing for Variety Magazine

A thriller that aims to be different, "Inside Man" stirs some very tasty
flavors into its familiar bank robbery/hostage crisis plot, which helps
conceal the modest portion of the central ingredient, suspense. A flashy
cast, clever script and vibrant showcasing of New York City as the ultimate
melting pot are strong plusses for Spike Lee's most mainstream studio
venture, which Denzel Washington's name should propel to solid returns for
Universal.


Film reviews researched and edited by Peter Haggart
* * *

Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre
508 S. Main Street, Moscow, Idaho
208-882-4127
Sign up for this weekly email on events and movies at the Kenworthy by
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PAMELA PALMER, Volunteer
Mailto:ppalmer at moscow.com
Film and Events Committee
Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre

http://www.kenworthy.org
To speak with a KPAC staff member,
call (208) 882-4127
Mailto:kpac at moscow.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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