"Inside Man," the new miniseries (really just a long movie cut into four parts) from Stephen Moffat, started out looking like Stanley Tucci doing a compelling variation on the Hannibal Lecter theme (imprisoned genius helps solve crimes), but despite some good turns from cast like David Tennant ("I'm a fucking vicar!"), couldn't quite decide if it was a black comedy or a more serious attempt to make some observations about human nature and our true selves. By the end, the comic moments seem sprinkled in rather than integral to the story, and it all unravels into preposterousness. And a deeply silly deus ex machina from a random garbage truck. Suspense, done properly, has us caring about at least one of the characters. To see that caring, established well enough in the first hour, pissed away in the next three is disappointing.
The post-credits scene would seem to set up another possible chapter, which one can hope will iron out some of these problems and give Mr. Tucci more room to illuminate the darker corners of human nature. I wouldn't mind seeing more of the actress who plays the Clarice Starling character, a young journalist at war with her own disgust for the man she is trying to profile.
