Film Review : HEAT * * * *

Heat (1995)

CAST Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Diane Venora, Ashley Judd, Ted Levine, Tom Sizemore, Natalie Portman, William Fichtner

DIRECTOR Michael Mann

Michael Mann's Heat is one of the greatest epic crime sagas of the last twenty years. It encapsulates action, drama, and romance, while still being effective as a believable story of law against crime.

Robert De Niro plays Neal McCauley, a veteran thief who is in a mid life crisis. He is part of a four man crew who has worked together a long time. Val Kilmer is Chris, his best friend in the group. A younger proto type of the De Niro character. He has a gambling problem which effects his marriage to Charlene (played with poise and conviction by Ashley Judd).

Hot on their tail is Vincent Hanna (Pacino). A tightly wrapped detective who is so involved in his work, it too causes strain on his relationship. In the beginning of the film, an armored car heist is botched by the newcomer of the group named Waingro. His short fuse causes the necessary murders of the armored car guards. Attempts by the crew to kill Waingro are foiled when a police car interrupts them, allowing Waingro to escape. This proves to be vital to the film, because he makes things difficult for this crew later on in the film.

The suspense and action mount as the crew takes on a big job, all the while Hanna and his boys are close on their tail.

I dont want to give anything away about this film. I will however articulate as to the reasons why it is such a great one. The screenplay is delicate and fluent in how it deals with the people who do the crimes and not just the crimes themselves. We understand that they are people also, they just chose a different path than most. They have families and they have problems. They watch each other's back and help each other deal with these problems. Among the four crew members is a bond of trust so strong, that trust is never an issue we doubt in the film. This movie also contains one of the most dramatic action sequences I have ever seen. A shootout in the middle of downtown Los Angeles.

This is the first time (technically) that De Niro and Pacino have acted together. They were both in The Godfather part II, yet they had no dialogue together. Here they have a very touching scene together in a coffee shop. The exchanges between the two are ladened with comments of admiration and respect. They both love what they do and neither wants to do anything else. They have accepted their career choices and are fine with that. The musical score adds a texture of street crime and police work. A very good score which complements a great script and a strong film. All performances are perfect and Mann's direction finds the right note. A winner of a film.