Not one wasted scene in it

Rating: 8/10 (1 October 2008)

It's a long film but there is not one wasted scene in it. Even the incidental story lines - for example the recently paroled ex-cell mate of Deniro whose first job is in a "grill" working for a nasty exploitative boss and then ends-up as a stand-in getaway driver for Deniros crew. It just adds weight to the whole film. All the domestic dramas of the good-guys and the bad-guys that you wouldn't get in the typical cops and robbers film are shown in loving detail and nothing is rushed. Just makes it a more satisfying and involving film. What do you want to hear about 'Heat'. Is it DeNiro's best performance? No. Is it Pacino's best performance? I'd be lying if I said it was. Do the performances improve the story? Absolutely. Mann has written (he wrote it as well) a complex and exciting two-sided story that develops the hunter Vincent Hanna (Pacino) and the hunted Neil McCauley (De Niro) separately throughout much of the film. Underneath a hail of bullets Mann is able to paint both lead characters with the same brush by delving into the similarly tragic and chaotic personal lives of Hanna and McCauley, allowing for the final epic scene, which would have been too pretentious if it were not for the excellent performances of Pacino and De Niro.