Rating of
4/4
Pacino and De Niro causes some major friction.
mdtinney - wrote on 05/23/09
The phrase epic is tossed around in film commentary far too much. Michael Mann's crime drama Heat, however, is very bit deservant of the term. While it certainly contains it's fair share of action (most notably a bank robbery sequence that runs for almost a half hour), those who are seeking an escapist shoot 'em up may find themselves woefully disappointed. This film is long and at times quite slow moving, but not to the effect of being boring. While it runs approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes, not one moment is squandered. It seems as though every single scene serves to give the viewer a deeper, richer understanding of each character.
Heat accomplishes something that very few films in the crime drama genre have been able to do. You know you who the bad guys are, you know where your moral allegiance is. And yet your sympathies and emotional reactions don't necessarily always run in the same direction. This is one of the great strenghts of Heat, the ability to get you to react compassionately to characters whose activity is upsetting to you. I frequently found myself loathing Neal McCauley, and yet feel great sympathy towards his struggles.
If you love great characters, and you can get past some disturbing formalist violence, then spend an evening sinking into this film. I guarantee that you won't regret it. And that is why it comes in at #23 on my Top Movie List.
