HEAT. Directed and written by Michael Mann; produced by Michael Mann and Art Linson for Warner Bros. Starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Rated R.
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Quick new year's quiz... How many movies did you see in 1995 that were really unpredictable? How many in the past 5 years? The past 10?
O.K., and how many of those (maybe) four or five movies could possibly be called action or cops and robbers flicks? I'll bet not many, if any.
So, for the uniqueness factor alone, Heat is worthy of attention. Because it is an unrepentant action movie that also keeps you guessing for most of its 180 minutes. And I mean really guessing, too, and not just about what some character's going to be wearing in the next scene, but what that scene's going to be about, and who's going to be ALIVE at the end of it. Not too many movies of any kind create doubts about major plot points like that.
But there's more. Just glancing at the credits (or the TV ads) you can see the high-voltage star power at work here. Arguably our two best actors together with "support" such as Val Kilmer. And not only do the guys deliver as expected, but their significant female others (played by Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman and Ashley Judd) give performances in the same league.
Heat gets high marks, then, for acting. And for giving the shoot-em-up principals more depth than we're used to by going into their personal relationships more than just casually.
Not so much praise, however, for the level of violence in the movie. Sure, a good bit is necessary given that it's about men in violent professions (De Niro is a top dollar thief and Pacino is the hard-nosed detective who pursues him). But the big (though not quite final) shoot-out is ludicrously overdone. And there's a grisly sequence involving the murder of a young prostitute that just tells us stuff we already know: one of the thieves' gang (Kevin Gage) is as nasty as they come and Pacino's character has empathy with his victims. Could've passed on that.
It's a bit too long, too. Now I certainly don't object to the kind of careful character development that Heat goes through. But there were several "mood-setting" scenes that could have been shortened and some others that could have been cut altogether (see paragraph above).
But all in all, Heat's definitely a Cadillac among dune buggies, a cut or two above the average cops and robbers shoot-it-out. Just take a cushion for the seat and prepare to be surprised.
January 17, 1996