Gillipedia Official Rating: I want someone to take Al Pacino saying, “Bam!” and cut it into a cooking video like Emeril Lagasse seasoning food.
Score: 9/10
I feel late to this party, but boy am
I just happy to show up. I almost gave this film an 8 because there’s a couple
elements that don’t come together, but the level of filmmaking and acting
displayed here excels this film past so many others that it absolutely deserves
the above 9. Writer/director Michael Mann doesn’t come out with too much, but
he’s known for hard-hitting action dramas dealing with some form of criminals
(first example that comes to mind is Tom Cruise’s villainous turn in Collateral).
And Heat was heavily marketed as a Pacino/De Niro showdown, and it lives
up to that name.
We’re introduced to our main players
from the start and their living situations in just a couple minutes of the
3-hour runtime before quickly moving on to the first heist that De Niro and his
crew pull off. It’s hard to describe exactly how Mann pulls it off, but the
combination of these professional criminals working their craft and it feeling
authentic, to the combination of well-used wide shots to show us the surroundings
and the close-ups of our main characters throws us into this world, grips us,
and refuses to let go. And I’ll go ahead and mention this now: if you’re
wondering about how the tone of the film feels, it didn’t take long for me to
feel like I was watching the inspiration for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark
Knight—in particular, the opening bank robbery scene. And I didn’t know it
at the time, but I will pat myself on the back because after a bit of research,
Nolan does describe this as one of his favorite films and indeed an inspiration
to his film.
I feel like the difference between
films I gave high praise to versus those I was more critical of in the past
year was all about the emotional connection to the characters. And luckily,
this long film isn’t just filled with fluff. The action is tense, but it’s the
hardships of life surrounding our characters that draws us in. De Niro has been
successful in what he does his entire life in part to his standoffish style and
willingness to do what is necessary for the job at hand; but when he meets a
young, attractive woman that he takes a liking to, how can he keep the two
worlds separate? The demolitions and basically right-hand man to De Niro is Val
Kilmer, and his relationship with his wife and child is currently heated,
but there is still love there. On the flip side, Al Pacino is a veteran
detective that has trouble sharing the burdens of his work with his wife, and that has put a strain on their relationship.
It’s within these relationships where the film is both crafted well while also
missing just a mark or two.
As the film moves along, De Niro talks
with Jon Voight about another score—of course, it’s one of those career-enders,
the big bucks, the big kahuna, enough dough to retire, the end all be all, the
big cheese, the butter poached lobster, the final axe to grind, the—
The first heist was successful, but
just a couple small moments start to add up as Pacino and his detectives start
to put the pieces together on who’s behind the crimes. The LAPD is putting more
heat on De Niro, but there’s almost this sense of pride of “You think you can
catch me? You think you’re better at what you do than what I do? Then c’mon,
give me your best shot.” De Niro has gone his career knowing when to step away
when the heat is too much, but as the draws of perhaps a simpler life with his
newfound love toil in his mind, he has to make decision on if this final job is
worth all the heat, but also if riding off into the sunset into retirement is
truly the end goal. Because this is the only life that he knows and what he’s
good at. And again, it’s going to take Pacino’s full efforts to try to stop De
Niro, but is the job worth the turmoil it’s causing his marriage?
The beauty of the above questions is
yes, there’s plenty of scenes of dialogue, but the true reason this movie earns
its ratings is what is said between the lines. I’m thinking this movie was
overlooked at the award shows at the time due to being an action film, but I’m telling you the
acting here is powerful. Pacino is over-the-top in the best ways that he pulls
off, but the way De Niro exhibits his control and power over people with simply
a look is so good. It takes gravitas for the commanding presence he has, and
it’s a powerhouse to behold. There’s a famous scene in a café where Pacino and
De Niro see each other face-to-face for the first time and essentially tell
each other that they will both stop at nothing to get the job done. And with it
being such a long movie, I was eating dinner at the time, and you better
believe even though I was mid-bite, my eyes stayed glued to the screen for the
entirety of that scene. Scarlet Johansson could've been in the same room trying to entice me with free tubs of Chick-fil-A sauce, and it wouldn't have mattered; there is nothing that could've prevented me from being spellbound by the acting on display. The way they
emote so much without having to say a word is incredible, but it also helps
that the dialogue is classic. My favorite line had to be when De Niro is on the
phone with William Fichtner who was even in that opening bank robbery of The
Dark Knight and made the mistake of double crossing De Niro, where De Niro
then delivers the lines, “What am I doing? I’m talking to an empty telephone…
Cause there’s a dead man on the other end of this f*ckin line.”
And it’s not just our three main guys
in this film—everybody is in this movie. A tween Natalie Portman, Ted Levine
basically playing the character he would recurringly play on Monk, Tom
Sizemore, Wes Studi, Danny Trejo, Dennis Haysbert (the All State guy), and Hank Azaria. It’s
an all star cast that I thoroughly enjoy, but it leads into my criticism that
there’s just one too many subplots in the film. De Niro, Pacino, and Kilmer all
deal with their own troubles outside of their work, and while most of it works
thematically, there’s even a late subplot involving Portman (who plays Pacino’s
step-daughter) that feels thrown in more than anything. Also, I’m sorry, but De
Niro’s love interest is just too young for him and I never fully got behind the
romance there. I’ll defend the film for most of its runtime, but it could be
tightened up just a bit—even 15 minutes cut out would be enough.
Once we get to the climactic bank
robbery and the subsequent and inevitable Pacino/De Niro showdown, I am fully
invested. There’s not much dialogue, but the action and the directing speak for
themselves. The score of the film perfectly fits every scene, and this film
should ultimately be a blueprint for many other films if they too would like to
succeed just like The Dark Knight. This is a classic film for a reason,
and if you’re looking for a heavy drama with gritty action mixed in, Heat
gets my high recommendation.
