By Brandon Nolta

Are there any films made in the last ten years with as much action, smarts and plain ol’ testosterone-driven style as HEAT? The 1995 magnum opus from Michael Mann is one of the legendary crime films of the last twenty years, if not the last fifty, and there’s no shortage of reasons why. Pick whichever one you like: the phenomenal cast, of which Pacino and De Niro are just the icing on the cake; the intelligent and snappy script; the brilliant editing and location work (Mann shot at 65 locations in Los Angeles, and not one of them was a soundstage); the intense action, including the famous bank robbery … shall I go on? Mann has always been a slick visual stylist and purveyor of smart, character-driven drama, but with HEAT, he topped himself.

What’s it all about? I’m glad you asked. It’s the mid-1990s, and Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) is looking to retire. One of the best thieves around, McCauley is focused, meticulous, smart and ruthless, and staying away from the law keeps him that way. His crew, despite their personal foibles, is as professional and smart as he is, and their capers usually go off like clockwork. Unfortunately, their latest one has gone a little south thanks to the new guy Waingro (Kevin Gage), and Waingro’s itchy trigger finger has called in a big dog: Det. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), a suit-wearing shark in the law enforcement pool. Hanna’s a bulldog for catching bad guys, and McCauley is one of those challenges that Hanna loves, even more than being a family with his latest wife (Diane Venora) and step-daughter (Natalie Portman). With the heat on, and his personal life thrown for a loop by a pretty clerk (Amy Brenneman), McCauley decides to go for the mythical big score, a daylight bank robbery with millions at stake. But Hanna and his equally professional crew are closing in, and a lead salad is going to be on the menu for somebody.


When discussing HEAT, it’s easy to start with certain aspects of the film. Of course, the acting is top-notch: De Niro plays cool and calm like nobody else, but when he starts to fall in love with Brenneman’s character, you can see the surprise and discomfort working around the edges, and that’s a joy to watch. Pacino is equally good, playing a man who’s bombastic but more controlled than we expect of Pacino these days. SCENT OF A WOMAN was behind him, and DEVIL’S ADVOCATE was still to come, but he modulates Hanna just right, and his scenes are electric. Then again, everybody brings their A-game; there’s barely an unfamiliar face in the cast, and everybody keeps up, especially Venora, who takes the thankless role of Hanna’s wife and gives her a spiky, sexy charm. Judd and Kilmer are also very good as a dueling husband and wife whose love survives infidelity and a couple of heists.

Mann is renowned as a visual stylist (this is the guy who gave the world MIAMI VICE), and he puts that skill to good use. L.A. is one of his favorite subjects, and HEAT shows the city off to nice effect, whether it’s the cool blue steel burnish of the financial district or the deep black shadows of a field outside LAX. Every image is crisp and so sharply defined you could shave with it, despite the color palette leaning heavily into the blue and black. Along with the visuals, Mann does something unusual for a Hollywood epic: he wrote a smart script about smart people. There are only a couple of dummies in this film, and they barely get any screen time. Virtually all of the narrative is taken up by articulate, intelligent people staking out their lives, and it’s enthralling to watch. HEAT is almost three hours long, but you won’t feel it. It’s one of the best films of the 1990s, and probably the best crime film of the last 30 years. Don’t believe me? Go rent it and see.