INSIDE MAN — *** — Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster; rated R (profanity, violence, vulgarity, racial epithets, brief drugs, brief gore).

"Inside Man" is surprisingly suspenseful, especially for a film that appears to remove at the start any and all suspense about its outcome. But it's a deception.

As much a mystery as it is a suspense-thriller, this bank-heist film combines elements from both "Dog Day Afternoon" and "The Usual Suspects." And as odd as that may sound, the experiment works most of the time.

This is also a welcome return to form for director Spike Lee, who's been in a slump for a few years, whose last watchable film was, arguably, "25th Hour" in 2002.

"Inside Man" re-teams Lee with his "Malcolm X," "Mo' Better Blues" and "She's Got Game" star, Denzel Washington. He plays Keith Frazier, a disgraced NYPD detective who's been given a chance for redemption.

Frazier is brought in as a negotiator, to defuse an attempted bank robbery that's turned into a hostage situation, and resolve it as quickly as possible, with no fatalities. But the crooks' clever leader, Dalton Russell (Clive Owen), has other ideas.

Russell is determined to drag out the situation as long as possible and appears to have no qualms about shooting the hostages. If that isn't bad enough, Frazier also has to contend with Madeline White (Jodie Foster), a mysterious New York power broker who's trying to protect the interests of the bank's chief officer (Christopher Plummer).

As the director, Lee is working with dummy-proof material. Newcomer Russell Gewirtz's script is filled with clever dialogue and even smarter plotting; occasional bits of humor are a nice contrast to the tense drama.

And it would have been hard for the film to go wrong with this cast. Washington and Owen are the standouts — even though the latter wears a mask concealing his face most of the film. And both Foster and Plummer contribute solid performances, as do Willem Dafoe and British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Serenity"), who plays Washington's partner.

"Inside Man" is rated R for use of strong sexual profanity, some strong violence (shootings, a beating and a child in peril), use of crude sexual slang terms, ethnic slurs and racial epithets, some brief drug content (references), and some brief gore. Running time: 129 minutes.

---

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com