Superior thriller with some depth

Rating: 7/10 (18 October 1999)

How can a film starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro be bad? It really can't because they would never approve the script or director. By that I mean, they would pass. The fact that neither of them passed says something.
At the very least, this is a pretty good film.
And it is. In fact I think this will be one of the defining films of the nineties. I suspect it will be viewed in distant eras and scrutinized for clues about the American psyche, circa 1995. Some will see a fantasy glorifying professional criminals and the men who fight them. This will be true. Others will see a morality tale about good and evil played out with women in the background, but actually in the forefront of our consciousness.
I wish this part had been more fully developed.
Eady, played by Amy Brennaman, chooses the man who excites her (De Niro) and ends up with nothing (but she had an exhilarating ride). Charlene, played by Ashley Judd, swaps her men around, searching for the best deal, the one who will best provide for her and the one she can best manipulate. Justine, played by Diane Venova, cannot help but choose the workaholic super cop (Pacino) because he is so superior to any other man she's ever met, particularly to her first husband, the uncaring father of her adolescent girl. But her life will never be secure because he is always leaving her alone so he can chase criminals because that is what he really loves.
Some of this is a mafia-style film without the mafia. We have the same worshipful attitude toward those who thumb their noses at society and give orders that must be obeyed, super macho guys who bond together and follow the code, guys who can out shoot and out fight mere mortals. This is part of the fantasy. We see the expensive cars and the dinners with the beautiful women and the adorable children at fancy restaurants as part of the booty of being men who aren't afraid to take what they want regardless of risk. These men will always have the pick of the herd because if successful their mates know they will get a lot of the goodies of this world, and if unsuccessful, there's always the next risk taker who might succeed.
This is a complex film and I would have to view it twice to make sure it all fits. Being a thriller, I know off hand that it won't. Thrillers unravel. But life is too short to view this twice, so I will say I wasn't offended by the unlikely events: the fact that the touted bank robbery scene was like a war scene filmed with surround sound effects and jittery camera immersions and bullets flying everywhere-semi-plausible even if nobody seemed to run out of ammunition. The robbery of the armored truck was nicely done except that the tire-puncturing chain strewn across the street for the pursuing cop cars seemed a bit stagy, and the whole thing required the most exquisite timing. In the uncompleted break-in there was a familiar "Mission Impossible" tension-filled race against the clock that seemed authentic, but probably wasn't. The Los Angeles environs, especially the final scene at LAX, provided atmospheric locales that made everything seem real and immediate.
Where I think director Michael Mann went astray was his insistence on giving the audience the expected confrontation between the two big stars, a subplot that reached its low point with the phony bonding scene with De Niro the bad guy and Pacino the good guy having coffee together and exchanging dreams like blood brothers. This mutual admiration society was right out of some WWII film in which the American general admires the courage and cunning of his Nazi counter part and vice versa. De Niro's final line was a little corny, but Pacino's squeezing his hand reminded me of the way a big cat lovingly licks its prey after killing it. Bottom line though, Pacino and De Niro made us believe, or at least suspend judgment for awhile, and that is what Hollywood is all about.
(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)