Inside Men (2012)

A suspense story enriched by its psychological dimension and three quietly compelling performances.

It's got a smart pace, good performances and it's a relief not to have to commit to something long-term.

A lean moral thriller, Inside Men considers the core impulses of such justification, and draws out severe implications with considerable skill.

The performances are all first-rate, so much so that they help the audience overcome very minor skepticism when events in Tony Basgallop's script feel a bit too convenient to be entirely credible.

The story ends with a final, not quite believable, flourish on John's part, but Mr. Mackintosh carries it off, riding comfortably above his middling material.

It's such a bravura, tightly wound performance--played with restrained intensity by the kind of star seldom featured on American TV--as to keep one glued to the show right up until its slightly anticlimactic, disappointing payoff.

It's in the relationships that these men come home to that defines Inside Men as markedly more engaging and effective than a great deal of its ilk.