Robert De Niro. Al Pacino. Mano a mano. Well, not physically. But, it would have been awesome. We always wanted these two legendary actors to star alongside one another ever since The Godfather Part II. In that classic movie in 1974, they starred in that movie but they never had any scenes together because they were in different timelines as Pacino portrayed Michael Corleone and De Niro portrayed young Vito Corleone in flashbacks. The flashback structure worked magnificently as it paralleled an ascent to power and an ascent to cold power as his family dynamic is descending when the truth starts to unfold and unfortunate circumstances occur.
But, these legends have a made of repertoire of landmark films ever since The Godfather and Mean Streets: The Godfather Part II, Serpico, Taxi Driver, Dog Day Afternoon, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Once Upon a Time in America, Scarface, The Untouchables, Midnight Run, Goodfellas, Scent of a Woman. It is the movie that many fans of those actors were waiting for and the unfortunate thing is even though they star alongside each other, they do not have many scenes together. It is more of a mystery chase heist thriller that grasps the suspense and action into another level that is captivating and rewarding. This is a great movie from director Michael Mann.
On their trail, Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) is investigating the robbery along with his crew - Sergeant Drucker (Mykelti Williamson), Detectives Casals (Wes Studi), Mike Bosko (Ted Levine) and Danny Schwartz (Jerry Trimble). Vincent meets with a man and informant named Albert (Ricky Harris), who tells him that his cousin, Richard, knows that Michael is connected to the robbery based on information regarding his nickname and tattoos. So, Hanna's team provides 24-hour surveillance on all of the crew connected to the robbery.
Meanwhile, Neil's fence, Nate (Jon Voight), suggests he sell the bearer bonds to a banker named Van Zant (William Fichtner). But, Van Zant sees an opportunity to claim insurance off of those bonds so Van Zant gets a crew to ambush Neil. Neil survives and vows revenge against him. Neil and his crew plan a bank heist whereas Vincent is on the hunt as he inches closer to him.
SPOILER ALERT!
This is one of the most well-crafted and organized movies ever made, especially in a heist genre. It could probably be the best heist movie ever made as it dissects the plot, the characters and the coordination of the robbery. You can see some vulnerability and isolation in most of the characters as the cop played by Pacino is dedicated to his job whereas the thief played by De Niro is dedicated to his task to perform the heist successfully. The theme of loneliness surrounds both of these characters as it make these perfectionists of their profession into flawed characters.
The great thing about the characterization of Neil McCauley is that he is so disciplined and control that he is focused on the next task at hand. He picks up a book regarding metals, it may connect to a future robbery as a woman named Eady played by Amy Brenneman is being told by Neil himself that he is a salesman. What is so fascinating is that you can see that Neil is not being displayed as a caricature but more as a human being as he meets Eady as he takes off his focus and has a sense of mixed emotion. He is always in the custom of isolation that his interaction with Eady is taken by surprise. Other than his crew and his crew wives/girlfriends, this is the first time we see him interaction outside of his entourage.
With Al Pacino's character, he has more flaws in Vincent's personal life as his step-daughter played by Natalie Portman and his girlfriend, Justine, played by Diane Venora have an estranged relationship with the paternal figure. The movie starts out with Vincent with having a solid relationship with them but the movie progresses as he becomes more focused on the case and becomes distant with those two. But, Justine knew what she was getting into as Vincent told him that being in the life of a cop is going to be difficult as he "is sharp and on the edge where he has to be".
Although this is a heist film, Heat is more of a film noir tête-a-tête. Putting aside their personal lives, the cinematography by Dante Spinotti is striking as he sets the urban display of Los Angeles as a character as it inhabits all the suspicious and criminal activities going on within the vicinity of the story and the investigation. He blends the tone within the cinematography whereas in one scene when Neil comes back from a day's work, there is an icy blue tone of where he puts his gun down and then looks at the ocean stating the theme of loneliness to begin with because he focuses on the task and not on building on his life. He has to get around to it when he gets around to it.
For Chris played by Val Kilmer, he focuses on his family as he think his wife, Charlene, played by Ashley Judd, is going to leave him. We see that Charlene in a later scene cheating as Neil catches her in a motel as he scolds her and "orders" her to give Chris one more chance and if he screws up again, Neil would finance her and Chris' and Charlene's son, Dominic, to go wherever they need to go. For Neil, his home is a frame of mind that he can live with his wife not worry about anything as much as Chris. Neil can be a free man.
Another couple of themes that get overlooked are honor and respect. As you can see in the scene above, Neil honors his commitment especially with Chris as he is backing him up. Charlene is so frustrated by Chris' lack of discipline and neglect that she disrespects Chris. But, in a way, the group of thieves do not form just a posse but a family. In a scene where they all sit for dinner, each crew member brings their wife or girlfriend and as the camera focuses on Neil, it goes back to isolation. As he said before, Neil is alone but not lonely. But, you start to feel sad for him as his chance to form a family is dissipating quickly.
Now, this is the moment where I felt that there is respect between Neil and Vincent. In a formulaic film, it could have been a typical chase scene where cop chases thief. No, Vincent stops Neil and asks if he wants to go to a place for a cup of coffee. If you pay attention to the masterful conversation scene below, which I think, besides the bank heist scene, is the best scene of the movie, Vincent starts the conversation with a little bit of background information and Neil answers with questions like it is an interrogation. However, the scene twists itself as it becomes a lot more personal as they exchange decisions at the moments during an action and emotions. They share dreams of what may foreshadow what they might do near the end of the film. As the audience viewer, I expected something more routine like exchanging threats, but no, they exchange their personal feelings for themselves and for each other. If they were in under different circumstances, they could have gotten along as they are alike. They both have mutual respect for each other.
I think the ending is exceptional and also tragic as the climax is a foot chase as Vincent tracks Neil in a field near an airport runway. As Vincent shoots Neil, Vincent does not look happy but remorseful as he shot Neil dead, not wanting to kill him but to catch him and go to jail. Whereas for Neil, he did not want to go back. It lands right on the money as they hold hands in respect as Neil passes away and Vincent looking off into the distance in a melancholy state, cutting to the last shot that is poetry.
Michael Mann has made a masterpiece in my opinion and it is one of my favorite movies of all time as it a 3-hour masterstroke of storytelling with well-written dialogue by Michael Mann and great direction from Mann. Also, the performances are at the absolute peak by De Niro and Pacino in their heyday and also an underrated performance by Val Kilmer. The ensemble is terrific with Tom Sizemore, Mykelti Williamson, Wes Studi, William Fichtner, Danny Trejo, Tom Noonan, Ted Levine, Ashley Judd, Amy Brenneman and Diane Venora. You can sense some tension and hostility in almost scene and you can believe the dialogue exchanged from the characters as they are realistic characters in a true L.A. environment. This is an amazing crime epic and it definitely holds up. If you are true fan of heist films and cinema itself, Heat is the hot ticket.
I know there is one more scene that I have not shown. Enjoy the robbery scene. It is long but worth it.
Comments
Post a Comment