Review of Heat (1995) by Bradley W — 17 Jan 2012

Heat is an incredible crime film and may possibly be Michael Mann's best film to date. It is a crime film for sure, but it has a much bigger role to say than that. Its a movie that shows that maybe the cop and the criminal are not so different as they believe. They are all people with problems in life, maybe the criminal is having relationship problems same as the cop, and maybe they both are able to relate to one another with their regrets in life. Any way you look at it this film is incredible, it takes crime to a whole new level of intensity. This is currently the best film I have ever seen Michael Mann do and he deserves every bit of praise that was given.

The story follows three characters, a cop named Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), a criminal named Neil McCauly (Robert DeNiro), and Neils best crew member Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer). Vincent has been signed on to take down Neils rain of robberies and murders, while Neil is trying to keep his relationship with his girlfriend and his crime life from getting out of hand. Chris is having problems with his family and he begins to suspect his wife is having an affair. These three men are connected one way or another, and they must do what they have chosen to do with their lives, even if they may regret the choices they have made.

The plot is definently great whenit comes to a story, but the charcters are where the film truly is incredible and lives up to being an intense crime film. From the intense story going into robberies and the personal lives of the characters the film succeeds, and it is also a great tale of how revenge can take control of a mans better judgement. There is a crucial moment in the film where Hanna invites McCauly to get some coffee, and he agrees. They soon talk about their lives and realize they are very much alike, they have issues with their jobs, problems in their relationships, but most importantly wonder if they chose the right paths in life. Chris is a great character because although he did not talk much, I feared him because you could tell the slightest insult or anger would make him snap. This is a crime drama that takes character development into a whole new level, which is what made it feel so fresh and incredible.

The cast sonsists of some of the most legendary actors of all time and they all make this one hell of a film. Al Pacino is always great in a Michael Mann film, he always seems to make us love him espically since as the film goes on we learn more about him and it makes his performance more adapted to his character, it made it very great to watch him. Robert DeNiro has always been able to handle playing a tough man, whether the film is Casino, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Cape Fear, The Godfather Part II, or The Untouchables he is able to just captivate us in a role he can play just perfectly and great, he honestly is one of the greatest actors of all time. Val Kilmer had a time in his career where he was great, the time was when he was in films like this and Tombstone, such a great performance. They all played their roles to the punch and I enjoyed each one of these legendary actors.

Heat is in many cases an action film as well. There are many shootout scenes that just captivate the audience with its incredible coolness and fun. It reminded a bit of one of my all time favorite movies L.A. Confidential with the incredible shootout scene at the end of the movie, and there is one part of the film where there is a shootout throughout the streets of Chicago. It is hard to make a movie as great as Heat, but Michael Mann has done it better than I could have imagined. If you need possibly the perfect crime film, I recommend you see this right away.