The films Inside Man and The Usual Suspects tell the complicated stories of criminals and cops. Inside Man follows the story of Detective Keith Frazier who is trying to take down Dalton Russell and his gang of Jewish criminals who are committing the "perfect robbery" at a New York City bank. The Usual Suspects follows Roger "Verbal" Kint as he is interrogated about a boat shooting by Detective Dave Kujan. Both of these films share similar themes such as revenge, power, deception, and corruption. Revenge is a large motivating factor in both of these films. In Inside Man, Russell and his co-conspirators are trying to get revenge on Arthur Case, the owner of the bank, who made a fortune from working for the Nazi party in World War II. Case hid the evidence of his Nazi work in a safety deposit box located in that bank. When Case is told that the bank containing his secrets is being robbed, he sends Madeleine …show more content…
In Inside Man, Russell first flexes his power in the opening scene of the movie, where he tells the audience to "listen carefully" because he never repeats himself. He maintains this authority as he sets the scene for the audience explaining bits and pieces of what is going to happen in the film. There is also a large power struggle between Frazier, White, and Russell. White thinks she is in charge because this situation is "above [Frazier's] pay grade". Frazier thinks he is powerful because he believes he has the upper hand in obtaining the perpetrators. But ultimately, Russell is the dominant one; getting his team out of the bank, escaping the bank, physically bumping into Frazier, and ultimately getting away with the robbery. The Usual Suspects is another example of a power struggle. Once again, the cop thinks that he has the upper hand over the criminal. Kujan believes that he has power over Kint by belittling him during the interrogation; but we find out that Kint is really Keyser Soze, a very powerful
Callahan is also not afraid of violence and danger and is willing to put himself and his partners in danger. Conservatism is also a theme in the film and the respect and need for the past and tradition. They show that the results are the important thing and not the process. It is better to get the criminal, however that may be including illegal means then to let them be able to continue to commit crimes against society. This is another crime fiction film and the search for truth and getting the criminal off the streets.
In 2015, HBO aired a six-part, true crime documentary series titled, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. Writer and director, Andrew Jarecki, examined the details of three crimes associated with Durst, including the disappearance of Durst’s first wife Kathy, the murder of his dear friend, Susan, and the murder and dismemberment of his neighbor, Morris Black. While the mini-series was met with acclaim, many – including myself – criticize The Jinx for its storytelling approach. The series seemingly blurs the lines of storytelling – for entertainment purposes – and journalism; raising many questions regarding ethics. Initially, Durst approached Jarecki regarding an interview after he saw All Good Things, a film Jarecki had released
During the process, he stressed the importance of brotherhood within a unit, and how “rats” are shunned by the station as a whole. The examples of police misconduct during the documentary were dishonesty, abuse of power, and police brutality. Dishonesty was a consistent topic throughout the duration of the documentary due to the double-life Michael was living. While serving his country as a police officer, Michael was in control of a cocaine ring. He used his uniform and his partner, to play vital roles in his quest for wealth.
Joe Swanson, a police officer, plays his part in serving his community by keeping the town safe from criminals. The teachers at James Woods High School, doctors in a hospital, and an airport all play their roll to keep society
The late 19th century consisted of rigid work hours for children, the growth of strikes, and the use of yellow journalism. It was a challenging time for anyone below the upper class to live in. This is demonstrated throughout Newsies, a Broadway Musical displaying the challenges from this time period. Child labor, a major part of the movie, was the way of life and consisted of young children doing hard work as a vital part of the nation’s economy and income of families of the time. Another part of the movie, strikes, were the people’s way of refusing to work as a result of not getting their desires.
Harris works and lives in the inner-city streets where the drug dealers overrun the city. Harris’ personal beliefs and sense of justice are a result of his life experiences with criminals and drug dealers. His ideas of justice and sense of right and wrong coupled with the social factors of drugs and crime in his community contribute to Harris’ unethical conduct. For instance, the temptations are always present in the circumstances when raiding any drug dealer activity. Drug dealers possess a lot of money and drugs, such as the Training Day movie, in which money and drugs influence Harris, so he acts criminalized.
In this example if you were a civilian in that bank you could be terrified to be shot so you would do exactly what the gunman said which in a way gives them all the power. Another example that was very obvious was when one of the gun man caught a civilian lying about were his cellphone is he took his gun and beat a man which was a way of proving to the other civilians that he has all the power. In the movie Usual Suspects the theme power is shown when the two dirty cops were doing airport pick up on a smuggler, these corrupt cops feel that because they wear the badge and hold a gun that they have power over the doing of things right and wrong they know very well that what they are doing is wrong but they continue to do it because the power is something they thrive on and they need. Another example of power is when the crippled man was getting interrogated he believed that he was a step a head of the cops.
The movies Inside Man and The Usual Suspects, both had similar themes and were different at the same time. I felt the common themes that stuck out to me the most in both movies were devising, karma, power and deception. Examples from both movies can be used in order to prove that these four themes exist. However, the dialogue, philosophy and the conviction represented in both movies were dissimilar. Devising was a major theme in both movies because every single detail was planned thoroughly.
The Coen Brothers explore this in both Fargo and No Country for Old Men to demonstrate the theme of greed being the nature of evil in humans. One way The Coen Brothers utilize this subjectivity is through characterization. Both films use police in an attempt to symbolize ‘objective good’ and the criminals for ‘objective bad.’ Using police to represent ‘good’ and the criminals for ‘bad’ enhances the subjectivity of the two terms when considering actions of Jerry in Fargo and Llewelyn in No Country for Old Men.
O Brother Where Art Thou? is a film that will take you on a perilous journey with Ulysses Everett McGill and his simpleminded cohorts. This film may be set amidst the early 1930’s Great Depression era, but it still has a Homer’s Odyssey feel to it. Down in the dusty and highly racial south, Everett recruits a couple of dimwitted convicts, Pete Hogwallop and Delmar O’Donnell, to help him retrieve his lost treasure and make it back home before his wife marries another suitor.
The Godfather (1972) is said to be one of the greatest films ever made. When this movie was released in 1972, it was nominated for Ten Academy Awards and it won three: Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was adapted from the book with the same name written by award winning author of mafia fiction, Mario Puzo. This film takes place in a span of ten years following the life of Don Corleone, the head of the Corleone Crime Family. It was a film that changed the history of cinema, introducing a very talented filmmaker and several acting legends in the telling of a story of a Sicilian Crime Family.
Poverty and deprivation of many kinds is a very serious problem, not only in the United States, but also around the world. In a study in 2014, forty-seven million people living in the U.S. were considered to be in poverty; that is fifteen percent of its population . Poverty and deprivation is a serious topic that everyone should be aware of; if you are not aware of a problem,how are you going to fix it? You can find examples of this topic in almost every where; From books and movies to your everyday life. The most common known definition of poverty is economic poverty, but there is also social, emotional, and spiritual poverty and deprivation.
The critically acclaimed film, Goodfellas, is a gangster crime drama that features an incredible amount of talent. Household names such as: Robert De Niro (Jimmy Conway), Joe Pesci (Tommy DeVito), Paul Sorvino (Paul Cicero), and promising stars like Ray Liotta (Henry Hill) and Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill), attracted numerous Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. That type of cast power, linked with the signature talent of Martin Scorsese as a director, made for cinematic gold. Unquestionably, the actors and actresses did an excellent job augmenting the verisimilitude of this film and compelling audiences to empathize with their characters. But the cinematography in this film plays just as large a role in having audiences feel what the characters
Wall Street “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works, greed clarifies—cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all its forms—greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge—has marked the upward surge of mankind” (O. Stone). In 1987 the by Oliver Stone directed movie Wall Street was released, starring Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen.
The ' 'Boiler Room ' ' tells the story of an ambitious young man 's rise, fall and redemption. The main character in this movie, Seth Davis is a 19-year-old Queens College dropout. For all of Seth Davis 's life, he has wanted to become a millionaire and to rebuild relationships or earn respect of his father, Marty a New York City federal judge. When he attains to become millionaire, however, he has endangered his chances for earning respect form his father. He runs an illegal casino in his apartment near the campus to ingratiate the college students.