A Must See

Rating: 10/10 (11 October 2010)

In the saturated genre of Action/Thrillers, Heat finds a way to stand tall above the masses, maintaining originality and an overwhelming sense of tension even despite moments of predictability. Michael Mann brilliantly utilizes both veteran actors (Pacino as Vincent Hanna, DeNiro as Neil McCauley), playing them with and against each other to the ultimate confrontation neither can avoid. There is an underlying depth to the film as the actions are incidental, its the characters that matter. While the defining line between good guy/bad guy is drawn it is equally blurred as your empathy lies with both men, understanding they're one and the same, each capable of being on the other side. Black and white hardly exists here, but rather those murky shades of gray that calls to question what matters most, what truly defines us: the motivation or the actions, the man himself or his job? Truly a magnificent cinematic feast.