Heat

One of the best crime movies ever made, Heat follows an elite crew of thieves, led by Robert De Niro’s Neil McCauley, as they become the target of a dedicated, obsessive detective named Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino). Filmmaker Michael Mann, armed with his own screenplay, does a terrific job of immediately drawing the viewer into the deliberate yet consistently enthralling proceedings, and it’s clear, certainly, that the movie’s often spellbinding atmosphere is heightened by the first-class efforts of its top-notch performers – with De Niro and Pacino’s magnetic work here matched by a stacked periphery cast that includes, among others, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, and Jon Voight. And although it runs almost three hours, Heat progresses through a busy narrative with exceedingly (and impressively) little in the way of needless interludes or stretches – as Mann delivers a sprawling epic that’s been peppered with mesmerizing subplots and astoundingly electrifying set-pieces. (The justifiably legendary shootout remains one of the very best examples of its type, undoubtedly.) The persistently engrossing vibe, which is perpetuated by a handful of now-iconic moments and sequences (eg the captivating diner encounter between De Niro and Pacino’s respective characters), paves the way for a stirring and completely satisfying climax, which ultimately cements Heat‘s place as a near flawless cops-and-robbers saga that remains unmatched all these years later.

**** out of ****

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