Review of Heat (1995) by Jacob H — 12 Apr 2013

One of the great crime movies.

Michael Mann writes and directs Heat, an incredibly smart crime thriller which follows a hugely successful criminal looking to get out of the game after one last hit, and an obsessive cop hunting to get him behind bars. Robert De Niro plays Neil McCauley, an experienced robber, known for tackling banks and armoured vehicles. McCauley's success has cost him a personal life, not allowing himself to get distracted by any relationships. Al Pacino plays Vincent Hanna, an L.A.P.D. cop putting everything he has into finding McCauley, which also results in a lack of family life. Divorced twice, Hanna is absent in his third marriage. Which of these lonely men will succeed?

My brief synopsis doesn't even begin to tap into the huge amount of detail and characters in this near 3 hour film. Mann's Heat is definitely one of the best crime thrillers of the past 20 years with action scenes worthy of Tarantino and the use of location and camera shot is simply superb. Although the film is so very long and nothing immensely new is done, Mann delivers a truly great crime movie.

When you see that the stars of the film are Pacino and De Niro, you can't help but want to watch the film. However, Mann only puts the two together in a few scenes with both putting in solid individual performances. Pacino over-acts his way through the film, which is not a bad thing as it surprisingly works. Much of his time is spent shouting at people and delivering orders, which allow the more dramatic scenes to add more to Pacino's character.

Purposely opposite to Hanna is De Niro's McCauley whose calm and and restricted demeanour creates a character that just breaths lonesome determination for the job at hand. Heat also has a stunning supporting cast which includes Val Kilmer, Natalie Portman, Hank Azaria, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore and William Fichtner.

Stunningly brilliant crime thriller although very very long.

J.Henderson.

8.5/10.