정보 큰 기대를 하고갔다가 크게 실망하고 온 영화 "인사이드 맨"

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어제는 모처럼 시간을 내
신촌 그랜드시네마에서 "인사이드 맨"을 보았습니다.

영화업자들 '찌라시'야 그렇다 하더라도
일간신문 영화평까지 사실과 다르게 내용을 소개하고 있으니
참 어이가 없습니다.

A학점은 못되더라도 C학점 수준은 아니고
신예감독(스파이크 리)의 패기를 높이 사서
잘하면 B뿔까지도 줄 수 있는 영화인데...

고약한 영화평 때문에
엉뚱한 기대를 하고 갔다가
크게 실망하고 돌아왔습니다.

그러니 "인사이드 맨"에 관해서는
우둔한 제가 직접 소회를 피력하지는 아니해 불고
국산(産) 영화평도 무시해 불고
미국산(産)으로 2개 잘라서 퍼날라 볼랍니다.(번역은 사정상 생략 ^^)

#1.

"Inside Man" is the kind of movie which requires us to struggle to follow what the cops and what the bad people are talking about. We have to know what to pay attention to, and we have to pay close attention to the conversations which revolve around motives and reasons.(영화 "인사이드맨"은 경찰이, 그리고 나쁜 인간들이, 도데체 뭘 얘기하고 있는 지를 열심히 귀기울이도록 요구하는 영화이다. 관객은 영화속에서 무엇을 눈여겨 봐야하는 지를 알아야 하고, 영화의 모티브와 이유를 뒤집는 배우들의 대사를 특히 유심히 살피지 않으면 안된다.)

I'm not even sure what the bad guys got by sitting in the bank all the time--wait--seriously, I'm writing, I began by being foggy about what had happened, but suddenly it came to me, I'm not going to tell you, because that ruins the whole thing, although I'm not to sure if this is the kind of movie that is about the destination. It's one of those movies which are like a cross-country road trip. It isn't about the destination. It's about the journey.


#2.

"The filmmaker seems to be patting himself on the back for being so smart to put this heist pic over without playing by the rules of the genre."(감독은 아마도 은행강도 영화의 전통적인 쟝르 규칙을 교묘하게 무너뜨린 점에 대해 돈내고 보는 관객은 안중에도 없이 저 혼자서만 즐거워하고 있는 듯하다)

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Spike Lee's ("She's Gotta Have It") newest "joint" revives the now stale bank heist-hostage situation genre (a Hollywood staple) once made with glee in such films as "Dog Day Afternoon." Here it's done with a new twist: the robbery is not actually a robbery, and the puzzle is to figure out exactly what it's all about and not to be too concerned with the heist itself. First-time screenwriter Russell Gewirtz provides an engaging and smart screenplay, where a good line is more valuable than ensuring that the plot has no holes. Spike seems mostly interested in ranting about racial profiling post 9/11, video games that are violent and racist, that it's harder for a black man to get a cab than a Sikh who looks like a terrorist, stoking things up with breezy trash-talk throughout and providing a political lesson by pointing out that you can't single out one tycoon on the Fortune 500 as being too much different than all the others because in all likelihood each of them participated in an unethical business deal at some time.

It's set in the heart of the NYC financial district on Wall Street, where a team of four bank robbers dressed in painters' outfits and white facemasks led by Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) take over the cornerstone branch of the Manhattan Trust, a bank founded in 1948 by its current chairman of the board Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer) and hold about 50 customers and employees hostage. It's soon uncovered that the haughty but guilt-ridden Case is a Jew who did terrible things in the past relating to Nazi-era ethical violations against the Holocaust victims that enabled him to start his banking empire and that he's a monster who has successfully cleaned up his image by donating much money to charity, but who now fears that the robbers will steal his security box where there are dark secrets from the past. Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) is the cocky police detective who gets his big career break when he's placed in charge of the headline grabbing hostage situation because his boss is on his summer vacation and gets a chance to match wits with bank robber mastermind Dalton (named just like the infamous western bank robbers from the 19th century). Captain John Darius (Willem Dafoe) is the stern uniformed cop in charge of the tactical operation, who guards his turf from the new wiseguy detective on the block. Called into the situation by Case is high-powered international fixer Miss White (Jodie Foster), who wears the form-fitting white dresses of the power fems and has the juice to get the mayor to order Frazier to allow her privileged access to the ongoing robbery investigation. She will, off the record, negotiate with the mastermind so Case's secrets are not let out of the box and in the bargain the detective can expect to be rewarded with a promotion for his cooperation.

The movie delays its ending (Spike just can't make a film in under two hours) with a lot of wasted crowd scene shots that go nowhere in advancing the story line but are playfully amusing; as a result the Inside Man never reaches your usual nail-biter payoff, but instead pays dividends with an unpredictable story line woven from a conventional one. The filmmaker seems to be patting himself on the back for being so smart to put this heist pic over without playing by the rules of the genre. Denzel, who gets the best lines, easily carries the film on his shoulders with his earthy Bogie-like performance, while the talented supporting cast crisply do what's asked of them and the two Brits, Owen and Chiwetel Ejiofor, as Denzel's detective partner, display fine New Yawk accents. It was entertaining, effective in the least ambitious way as a work of movie craftsmanship, but it was also nothing special--its main theme bandies about an attack on the privileges of the powerful that carries little weight because it's so sweeping.

REVIEWED ON 3/26/2006 GRADE: B

Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ

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앗~ 중요한 말씀을 빠뜨렸습니다. 이 영화 오픈닝과 클로징에서 나오는 음악이 좋습니다. 처음듣고 feel이 팍~ 꽂혀서 인터넷 뒤져 알아보니, 알만한 사람들은 이미 많이 아는 인도영화 Dil Se(1998)에 나오는 "chaiyya chaiyya"랍니다. 실력좋으신 산책시간님이 이 노래 구해서 카페에 좀 걸어주시면 좋겠는데..