Throughout his 20-year career, Spike Lee has been considered "outside" of Hollywood, against Hollywood, or angry with Hollywood. For his new film, Inside Man the Brooklyn-raised filmmaker is working inside a typical movie genre - the cops-and-heist thriller - and giving it his own unique touch.

Denzel Washington Credit: Universal Pictures

Topping his cast are two Oscar-winning actors, Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster, who themselves have directed (Antwone Fisher for him, Little Man Tate and Home for the Holidays for her), as well as English actor Clive Owen (Sin City, Closer). In tone and energy, the movie comes across like a modern-day version of 1975's Dog Day Afternoon.

Filmed last summer over 39 days in locales around the city - including the Financial District, where most of the action takes place - Inside Man isn't lacking for some of the concerns that have marked Lee's recent films (Bamboozled, 25th Hour, She Hate Me). Here, shadowing a bank robbery and hostage-taking, are ideas about evil corporations and the slippery morals of politicians and power-mongers.

In an interview, Lee, Washington and Foster shared their thoughts about breaking the rules, taking the heat and making Inside Man.

Q: This really seems like a film that could have been made in the 1970s - it has that toughness and urgency.

Foster: Spike showed us all a bunch of `70s films, like a film a night, to get us in the mood for this.