The best in the cops & robbers genre

Rating: 10/10 (13 October 2007)

This is one of my all time favorite movies; an exciting and well worked-out tale of cops vs robbers. Everything in this movie is well done: script and screenplay are sharp, exciting, but realistic. Acting is strong throughout: DeNiro and Pacino have hardly been better, and the supporting cast is strong right down to every minor character.
Without giving away details, here's a number of scenes that stand out and real fans will enjoy giving these a closer look to see what I mean about strong acting (as if the scenes don't speak for themselves): - DeNiro in the scene where McCauley confronts Chris' wife (Judd) - Scenes where McCauley and Nate (Voigt) interact, such as when they make their goodbyes. - Pacino in scenes where Hanna interacts with his informant (and the informant's brother) - The scene where Hanna comes home to his wife and Ralph. - The scenes between Breedan (Haysbert), the getaway driver, and his girlfriend. Also: The diner's manager's abuse of ex-cons like Breedan. - Of course: the DeNiro/Pacino coffeeshop scene.
At the time, critics mostly seemed to object to the (over)length of the movie. In my opinion, this merely reflects the lack of other aspects (flaws) of this film that warrant any comment. I say: you can't get enough of a good thing. There's nothing wrong with a movie spending time on character development, so long as the characters are interesting and they contribute to the story. This certainly applies for Heat, which provides characters with a complete and complex personal background, which adds realism, creates involvement with characters and their motives, and adds to the excitement and atmosphere in action and suspense scenes.
In todays era of fast-paced Hollywood action flicks, movies like Heat, that have the patience to tell a complete story, are a rarity and should be cherished. If you have enjoyed this movie as much as I have, you can be sure to enjoy other work by director Michael Mann (e.g. Collateral, Miami Vice) as well - but you knew that.