Inside Man (2023)

Inside Man (2023) is also known as Gemini Lounge, particularly in the Italian version.

Do not confuse this film with The Inside Man (1984) starring the late Dennis Hopper. Nor with Inside Man (2006) starring Christopher Plummer, Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe and Clive Owen.
Nor with Inside Man – Most Wanted (2019) by M.J. Bassett starring Aml Ameen, Rhea Seehorn, Roxanne Mckee and Tanya Van Graan. This is the second instalment. There is also a BBC mini-series with the same name.
And, by the way, there is also The Man Inside (2012).

There was a time when I watched all the films with Ashley Greene, but I didn’t know she was in this one. It’s a nice coincidence that she had already starred alongside Emile Hirsch in The Immaculate Room (2022), which was released the year before. It was a film in which Hirsch was reunited with Kate Bosworth for the second time, too.

All the actors play their roles well here. Jake Cannavale and Greg Finley are no exception. And it’s always a pleasure to see Lucy Hale again. But right now, it’s really Emile Hirsch’s filmography that I’m delving into.

This actor knows how to choose his roles and films very well. Whether in the recent Prey, also known as Kalahari – Hunting Grounds (2024), Midnight In The Switchgrass (2021), Devil’s Workshop (2022), The Girl Next Door (2004) and especially in The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016).

Okay, let me be clear: I don’t like gangster films, except for The Untouchables (1987)! And I didn’t know this film was one. I can’t stand the violence in this kind of film, whereas I can tolerate it a little more elsewhere.

Demoted detective Bobby Belucci is given the opportunity to go undercover and arrest the mafia’s most ruthless killer…

I can’t say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching this feature film. Nor can I say that I was bored throughout or that none of the scenes were interesting. I like the actors and I tried to follow the plot, even though it didn’t interest me that much. Undercover stories always stress me out. For someone with ADHD like me, it would be hell to go through this kind of nightmarish situation and try to keep up the cover.

Even the sex scene is quick, against the wall, followed by a discussion that doesn’t end too well…
In short! Everything is aggressive, dirty, unhealthy and terrifying in this environment. The only reassuring thing is knowing that mafiosi also kill each other. ‘And they have my blessing!’ as the police captain says.

Inside Man remains a good film of its genre. I can’t totally crush or destroy it in my review. It’s worth noting that Robert Davi, unforgettable in The Goonies (1985), is also in the film. This guy has been an actor since 1977!

Danny A. Abeckaser isn’t a director who interests me much, even though he made another film with Emile. His filmography seems to be full of guns, drugs and disturbing true stories that I’d rather not know about. I’ve nothing personal against him, it’s just not my cup of tea.