Well-acted, but slow and stupid

Rating: 6/10 (15 May 2000)

Michael Mann makes great movies (THIEF, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS) and not-so-great movies (MANHUNTER). HEAT falls into the latter. Boasting one extraordinary performance (Robert DeNiro), three terrific ones (Al Pacino, Diane Verona, Amy Brenneman) and one very good one (Ashley Judd), HEAT is, unfortunately, Mann's most poorly paced film. Much of the problem lay with the stupid script. The writers would have us believe the "best" armed robbery team in America would meet in a public restraunt after a multimillion dollar robbery at which guards were murdered, and the leader would exact his frustrations on a team member whom "screwed up". We are to believe that DeNiro would "cap" a "screw up" on a public street, when he could have "done" him in an isolated location. We would believe that an experienced fence would order the "hit" on DeNiro without researching his team, when DeNiro knows where the fence "lives?" We would believe that DeNiro would keep the team together after the "screw up" escapes, rather than having them disban, track the guy down and "tie up loose ends?" This is the dumbest bunch of professional crooks I'VE ever seen.
Even the music, usually Mann's trademark, is tired and forgettable.

This is a great film? What a joke!