Review of Heat (1995) by Joe C — 22 Jan 2017

The ensemble heist thriller to end all ensemble heist thrillers, Michael Mann's Heat didn't simply rely on the novelty of being the first movie to bring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino together for a few scenes.

Quite the opposite, really. Mann juggles his incredible cast as deftly as he manages the many moving parts in a storyline pitting a dogged cop who's sacrificed his family for his career (Pacino) against a notorious career criminal (De Niro).

It is perhaps unfashionable to mention such prosaic qualities as character development in a guns-a-blazing action movie, but Michael Mann's study into the tired personal lives of Pacino and De Niro draws an engrossing parallel and contrast between them.

Sure this occasionally puts the action on hold, but when it picks back up, somehow your connection enhances the heart-stopping effect when 12 gauges start firing. But still, among Heat's achievements; containing the best shoot-out in the history of cinema and getting the coolest people of the 90's together in the same movie, the real showstopper is simply the two major screen actors, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, facing off over a coffee.