Review of Heat (1995) by Daniel S — 08 Apr 2012
This film was on my list of 'films that everyone splooshes over but I'm not fussed about'. But I remembered good things about it, and my wife had never seen it, so I thought it was high time to revisit, even if it is almost 3 hours long.
And I'm really glad I did. The characters make sense, the direction is really slick, and most astonishingly of all, it never feels long. Everything in it leads logically from the last thing and into the next.
Why is it so easy to root for a criminal with some kind of moral code? It really doesn't take a lot, and I'm entirely on board. Everyone loves a thief, I guess. Ok, fine, the love story element of it isn't entirely believable, but it's not a love story type of film and it's already long so I understand why they keep it shortish and hope that you jump on board with a love-at-first-sight vibe.
Pacino is probably a shade over the top for me (apparently earlier drafts had his character have a cocaine problem, which was cut but still seems to have informed his performance) but Robert De Niro is so cool in this it hurts.
It's in that amazing mid nineties run of his with Jackie Brown, Sleepers, Casino and Ronin. I could continue to gush, but I won't. Just listen when I say that one of my most common criticisms of a film is that it's too long, and yet I think this 170 minute film is awesome.
Also, what happened to Tom Sizemore?
This review of Heat (1995) was written by Daniel S on 08 Apr 2012.
Heat has generally received very positive reviews.
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