Grays Almanac

Home/Episodes/Inside Man

‘Inside Man’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan

March 15, 2021 · Inside Man (2006) · Crime · Drama · Mystery · 1:29:30

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

Categories

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 34:41Multiple scenes: bank robbery setup, Clive Owen's cell phone anger scene, first Jodie Foster-Christopher Plummer scene, video game scene, and first Clive-Denzel phone call

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 47:10Makes reference to 'what stage is the best' and discusses Albanian characters in movies generally

What's Aged the Best

Bill Simmons▶ 49:04Camera tricks including Denzel's dolly shot, Nazi plot twists in heist movies, Denzel's interactions with hostages, Ken Leung's performance, and ad-libbed dialogue
Chris Ryan▶ 50:32The Terence Blanchard jazz score, noting it would likely be replaced by 35 songs if made today
Sean Fennessey▶ 50:53A.R. Rahman's 'Chaya Chaya' song, praising Spike Lee for being ahead of the Hollywood-Bollywood trend by 2-3 years

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 52:58Denzel Washington — Discussed Ron Howard as original director, Denzel Washington turning down Clive Owen's role due to disguise/mask requirement, Owen nearly turning down role for same reason, Amir Ali Saeed cast from Chappelle Show sketch, and Marcia Jean Kurtz cast as callback to Dog Day Afternoon
Chris Ryan▶ 54:07Added that another Dog Day Afternoon actor (the pizza delivery cop) was also cast in the movie, noting there are two Dog Day actors total

Joey Pants Award

Bill Simmons▶ 54:36Peter Gerety — Peter Guybert as the mayor
Chris Ryan▶ 55:18Peter Gerety — Suggests Ashley Atkinson, Chill Mitchell, and Peter Garrity as Denzel's boss as options, calls Garrity 'the ultimate that guy'
Sean Fennessey▶ 55:19Peter Gerety — Acknowledges Peter Garrity as an all-time that guy from Homicide and The Wire, also mentions Ken Lung

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 59:40Shared multiple facts: Spike Lee and Willem Dafoe met in men's room during Julius Caesar intermission and decided to work together; filmed at 20 Exchange Place (former Wall Street bank/cigar bar); Cartier Diamond Ring was real ($1.5 million, borrowed for 3 days); Gangsters is Genocide video game created because Spike was bummed by Grand Theft Auto

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:10:08Clive Owen — Clive Owen - yes (2006 with Children of Men and Inside Man), 21st Century Jodie Foster - yes, Winston Wolfe from Pulp Fiction for fixers (over Michael Clayton)
Chris Ryan▶ 1:10:59Harvey Keitel — Juicy Fruit - yes, agrees with Winston Wolfe being better fixer than Michael Clayton
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:11:16Harvey Keitel — Winston Wolfe from Pulp Fiction for fixers - argues it's better than Michael Clayton

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 1:20:39Why burn the Nazi thing instead of destroying it completely; how does Clive Owen know about it; what does Jodie Foster's character actually do for work; would Winston Wolf have done a better job; can you name countries that border Albania
Chris Ryan▶ 1:20:45The Nazi thing is his original sin that he can't wipe away; Haim the professor likely traced the diamonds to figure out the banker connection
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:23:02Winston Wolf would unquestionably have done a better job - would get Clive Owen to hand over the deposit box within 20 minutes

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:26:32Denzel Washington — Agrees with Spike but emphasizes this is a great Denzel period/stretch
Chris Ryan▶ 1:27:00Denzel Washington — Discusses this as the good version of what Denzel would later do in lesser movies
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:26:26Spike Lee

Movies Referenced (65)

Den of Thieves (2018)

8 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 18:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Clayton (2007)

5 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 7:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Town (2010)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 1:14:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fast Five (2011)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 1:14:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Pulp Fiction (1994)

4 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 1:11:19IMDb ↗Lb ↗

25th Hour (2002)

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 2:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Babel (2006)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 23:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Children of Men (2006)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 5:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Deja Vu (2006)

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 9:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 18:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Green Book (2018)

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 28:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 23:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (11)

Spike Lee

41 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, She's Gotta Have It▶ 2:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ron Howard

9 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for A Beautiful Mind▶ 12:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Mann

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Insider, Collateral, The Last of the Mohicans▶ 30:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Oliver Stone

2 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Born on the Fourth of July, Platoon, JFK▶ 31:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sidney Lumet

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for 12 Angry Men▶ 2:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Woody Allen

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Annie Hall, Deconstructing Harry▶ 2:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Clint Eastwood

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino, Unforgiven▶ 23:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Houston

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 27:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mike Nichols

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for The Graduate▶ 7:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Norman Jewison

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck▶ 30:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Stephen Frears

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Dangerous Liaisons▶ 23:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (53)

Clive Owen

26 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Children of Men, Gosford Park▶ 5:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Denzel Washington

23 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 6:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jodie Foster

20 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for The Silence of the Lambs, Taxi Driver▶ 10:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Willem Dafoe

10 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Spider-Man▶ 16:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Christopher Plummer

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for The Insider▶ 10:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Al Palagonia

6 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for He Got Game, 25th Hour▶ 46:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Crazy Town

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Something's Gotta Give, Saving Silverman, Orange County▶ 1:14:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Chiwetel Ejiofor

4 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for 12 Years a Slave▶ 10:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Daniel Day-Lewis

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for There Will Be Blood, The Last of the Mohicans, Lincoln▶ 1:05:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Iso

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 39:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

James Ransom

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for House at the End of the Street▶ 57:19IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jason Statham

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Crank, Furious 7, The Meg▶ 7:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (4)

Roger Ebert

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 21:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Malcolm X

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for Malcolm X▶ 26:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tony Gilroy

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Michael Clayton, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story▶ 7:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Brian Grazer

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13▶ 12:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗