"Inside Man", the latest heist movie from Spike Lee, starts out as a bad day at the office for everyone involved.

A group of bored bank employees and customers suddenly find themselves looking down the wrong end of AK-47's wielded by a gang of robbers. The robbers find themselves immediately surrounded by an army of police and the police hostage negotiator, Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington), finds himself forced to share his job with Madeline White (Jody Foster), a mysterious bank representative, who is, for reasons she won't share, trying to cut a side deal of her own.

We're only a few minutes past the opening credits and the intricate clockwork of a brilliantly planned robbery we've come to expect from this kind of movie has been reduced to stalemate. But it's in the stalemate that "Inside Man" has its fun.

The movie centers on Detective Frazier. As a hostage negotiator he's used to having the advantage of seeing the larger picture and controlling the waiting game. He has the fire power, he has the time, and he's the guy who can order the pizza's for his hungry and nervous adversaries. But Washington begins to realize that the head of the gang of thieves, Dalton Russell (Clive Owen), is a lot smarter then your average crook and isn't particularly upset by his predicament. Russell also seems to know why Ms. White is so interested in this robbery.

Ms White, meantime, is making offers to Russell and not giving Detective Frazier the details. Frazier, is no longer orchestrating the standoff, he's playing a game of catch up.

Denzel Washington has a special gift for playing characters that can finesse a weak hand with verbal sparing. In both "Philadelphia" and "Malcolm X" much of the plot was propelled by his ability to out talk his opponents. "Inside Man" relies on the same talents. Frazier has to manipulate both Russell and White into revealing whether his assumptions are valid or he's just being played. It's tricky business because both Russell and White are up to the challenge. His one advantage seems to be that neither Russell nor White has a very high opinion of the NYPD.

Jody Foster makes the most of Madeline White, a behind the scenes problem solver for the rich and powerful (In this case she's been hired by the bank's chairman (Christopher Plummer) to make sure the robbers don't stumble upon a secret kept in a safe deposit box). White is smart, articulate, totally unencumbered by conscience, and Foster plays her with a reptilian smile that gives you a hint of what might have happened if Nancy Drew had done a summer internship with La Costa Nostra.

As the brains behind the robbery, Clive Owen's Russell doesn't waste a lot of words but keeps both Frazier and White off balance by what he reveals and when.

True to the best traditions of the genre, Russell isn't satisfied just to talk. His crew goes through an elaborate series of maneuvers designed to confuse the police about their true intentions. The hostages are dressed in the same disguises as the robbers and pretty soon no one knows who's in on the plot and who isn't. This is a movie that keeps you guessing right up until the very end.

But the real pleasure is watching the three main characters hustle each other. The best movies in this genre are dialogue movies. Like a good game of poker as much of the excitement comes from the bluff as from the action and in that department "Inside Man" is the happy product of its casting. Washington, Foster, and Owen create an icy chemistry brings every interaction alive with treachery and consequence.

Spike Lee has developed a reputation for uneven quality in his directing portfolio but "Inside Man" delivers a very satisfying piece of entertainment.

Bruce Bulloch can be reached via wseditor@robinsonnews.com