'HEAT' IT 'AINT

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2004)

No, no, no; whereas 'Heat' was a truly epic masterpiece, this Mann offering barely dribbles along. Tom Cruise, good an actor as he is, with barely a duff movie under his belt, cannot command the intensity of De Nero or Pacino when handed the ticking time-bomb. He really does try to understate his role, but, I feel, falls woefully short of the mark. As the five 'hits' come and go, the murky pit widens, with little to keep the audience enthralled. Even the trade-mark denouement, with slow pan and profound narrative left me feeling short-changed. You see, I didn't care about this anti-hero in the same way I cared about the loss of De Nero, in 'Heat'. the others were barely significant - lots of brooding close-ups, but no convincing emotion. Sorry to say this - I've been a great admirer of Cruise's work, he can be charismatic when given good company, here I found him floundering in the dark, with Michael Mann's 'metal-echo hammers on trash-bins' soundtrack, failing to compliment a weak script. Another dead body rides the subway for two hours on end.