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Avg. Critic Score: 76 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    San Francisco Chronicle | Ruthe Stein

    The thrills in Spike Lee's singularly savvy thriller are in small unexpected moments. Read full review

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    The jazzish score, by Lee's music man, Terence Blanchard, is typically intrusive. But the mood is right, the twists are new. And with one casting inspiration, Inside Man furthers the rising stardom of Chiwetel Ejiofor (Serenity). Read full review

  • 90
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    This is the mother lode all action/suspense directors search for and Lee, who usually doesn't work in that genre, has hit it. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Inside Man may be a cat-and-mouse game, but it's far from predictable. What could have been a straightforward thriller is unusually clever, visually captivating and unfailingly entertaining. Read full review

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Smartly plotted by newcomer Russell Gewirtz and smoothly directed by, of all people, Spike Lee, Inside Man is a deft and satisfying entertainment, an elegant, expertly acted puzzler that is just off-base and out-of-the-ordinary enough to keep us consistently involved. Read full review

  • 80
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    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. Read full review

  • 80
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    A deft, tense, pure thriller, the movie has great star turns and is brilliantly directed, but it began as an extremely well-crated screenplay by Russell Gewirtz. It's professionally entertaining. Read full review

  • 75
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    The suspense crackles, the acting sizzles and the script, by promising first-timer Russell Gewirtz, keeps tossing surprises like grenades. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    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. Read full review

  • 63
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The whole plot smells fishy. It's not that the movie is hiding something, but that when it's revealed, it's been left sitting too long at room temperature. Inside Man goes to much difficulty to arrive at too little. Read full review

View more reviews for Inside Man on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Smart heist movie is not for children.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this film includes extreme language (frequent "f--k"s and other profanity, including the "N" word). The robbers take the bank with smoke bombs, dress in masks and painters' coveralls, and look ominous throughout; hostages are frightened, with some crying and others acting tough. The film includes sexual language. Characters display and discuss racism (most often, anti-Arab and anti-black). Characters smoke cigarettes and cigars. One crucial plot point involves a character making money by working with Nazis during WWII.
  • Families can talk about the way the film uses the generic bank robbery plot to evoke more profound social and political issues, like racism, corruption, ambition, and post-9/11 fears about surveillance and terrorism. How do Keith and the robber, Dalton, come to understand each other's motives and goals? How does the movie compare the moral positions of upper-crusty characters (who own or run the bank) and "regular folks," who bank or work at the institution?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Bank robbers, angry cops, corrupt executives: All misbehave, cheat, and lie.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Explosions (inside bank); a man is beaten behind a door (shadows visible and grunts audible), and he emerges bruised and bloody; gunshots, a seeming (and disturbing) execution of a character with a bag over his head.
  • sex false3 Sex: References to women's breasts (plus some jokes about men's tendency to focus on breasts); sexual language and discussion of sexual activity; hostages are upset when they're forced to strip (we see them looking uncomfortable in underwear).
  • language false5 Language: Lots of profanity. Several instances of the n-word (including a video game called "Kill Dat N---a"); over 50 uses of f-word; slang for genitals.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: iPods.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Smoking (cigarettes and cigars).
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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