What Brought You Inside INSIDE MAN?

INSIDE MAN is officially Spike Lee’s biggest hit, passing his previous best of $48 million for MALCOM X. I bet many people who saw the picture were surprised it was directed by Lee, whose never shown strong commercial instincts until now. (For many, this may be the first Spike Lee film they’ve ever seen.) His new attitude is possibly a bigger, more delightful surprise than Woody Allen and MATCH POINT.
INSIDE MAN has garnered very strong reviews, and uses the very commercial hook of being a bank heist movie. It stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster.
Those who saw CLOSER, know that Clive Owen is hands-down one of the most electric actors working in films today. That one performance has tainted me into seeing excellence in everything he does. (I even rented KING ARTHUR, and he was good there too.) He has all the charm of George Clooney, but an intensity that makes him more like Clooney’s evil twin.
Clive Owen is a known quantity with a following, but (in America) not yet a movie star. Denzel and Jodie are INSIDE MAN’s box office insurance, but I wonder… who’s the bigger star. I would say Denzel. He’s in more movies, more commercial movies and fits the role of celebrity better than the more recluse Foster. Denzel is the man, and he’s so cool that by comparison Samuel L. Jackson strains for the effect. (Click Here for Denzel's stats.)
However, Foster has a more box office hits and fewer misses. That could be attributed to the fact that she works less often. You could also argue that because we see her work less, it’s more exciting when she chooses to make a movie, as if her signing on is a mark of the film’s quality. (But then somebody explain FLIGHTPLAN, which would have failed without her.) She also has the advantage of being a celebrity longer than most of her fans have been alive. (Click Here for Jodie's stats.)
They both have two Oscars, with many years left to score a third. So who is it? Who’s the bigger star? Denzel or Jodie? Comment in and tell me who drew you to INSIDE MAN.